Mr. Bubble, 1961

“Gets you so clean, your mother won’t recognize you!”

For most of as adults, a morning shower is just a small part of our wake up routine (I myself am pretty adept at shampooing while still asleep). But back when we were kids, bath time was a huge chunk of our days.

The battle parents had to wage just to get us in the tub could be pretty prolonged. There could be threats, bargaining, even high speed chases around the sofa. What is it about getting clean that kids seem to fear so much?

Once the tub was filled, our dirty hands and sticky faces still had to be bribed into the water with a myriad of boats and bath toys – not to mention mountains and mountains of bubbles.

The leading purveyor of bubbles then was Mr. Bubble, who has been helping parents get their kids clean since 1961. Developed by Harold Schafer at the Gold Seal Company, Mr. Bubble (which came in flakes until the 1970s), made bubble baths an affordable luxury.

Though we were happy to welcome Mr. Bubble into the family, we never got on a first-name basis with him. It could be that we like to stay formal with our cleaning crews – like we do with the all-business Mr. Clean.

No one has to trick us into taking a bath anymore (I hope), but with all the responsibilities of adulthood, there’s little time for baths. Why not try to bring some whimsy back with a tub-full of Mr. Bubble?