Thursday, March 5, 2015

The humble hanky

Wow, I thought taking a redundancy would give me more time to blog but it hasn't been the case at all. I think I'm busier now than I ever was! Anyway I have 10 minutes to shoot out a small post.

I grew up in the UK and I've always just had a hanky (or hancherchief) on me. I guess my Mum used them and so did we. So I always thought they were normal and everyone had one. I never really noticed that they weren't that popular. When I was about 20 I went to Cananda and blew my nose in a Uni class and an American girl said "Wow, what is that thing? Can you do it again? I've only ever seen them in old movies". That was when it really hit me, I was a freak with an out-dated mode of nose blowing.

This hasn't stopped me though, maybe I like to stand out from the crowd. The main reason I love hankies is because you don't need to chop trees down, process them in to paper and package them up and transport them around the place. You just get one from a drawer (or my pocket, I never leave home without a hanky) and put it in the wash when it's dirty. No fuss, minimal waste and no it's not unhygienic (my pockets can't get my germs as far as I know).

So now our whole family use them. Amy has even made hankies out of old shirt fabric and they're pretty good. Here is a Ben Sherman model (a swanky hanky). And no, you don't need to iron a hanky!



It always dismays me to see people who should know better grab a tissue. So the humble hanky should make a comeback, why don't you give it a blow?

4 comments:

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  2. I love this. We use hankies as well. Though my mother in-law would have a fit about No you don't need to iron a hanky.

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  3. Thank you for your great website. My husband also uses cotton handkerchiefs much to the incredulity and disgust of his Japanese collegues during our 10 year plus residence in Japan. However, they also always have beautifully ironed handkerchiefs to the ready just not for their noses. Our Japanese friends carry handkerchiefs to wipe their hands instead of using paper towels or hand dryers in public toilet facilities. I have continued with this habit and would like to see it flourish here - not only does it preserve our trees but additionally it would stops the dreadful mess of paper towels in public facilities.

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  4. Thanks Christine, glad you like it. It's good to know that the Japanese use them, even if it is for a different purpose. You're right, it would be good if it took off here too.

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