~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 26, 2012

National Dog Day? Let’s Have a Toast!

★~ Meet Chatham: This boy was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth but certainly fell into a pot of jam when his forever family took him home. Chatham loves to jump on the picnic table, walk on his hind legs, and genuinely enjoys dressing up. Chatham is one of our camp clowns and often makes us laugh.

★~ Today’s Quote:  “I don’t know why no one ever thought to paste a label on the toilet-tissue spindle giving 1-2-3 directions for replacing the tissue on it. Then everyone in the house would know what Mama knows.”

★~ National Dog Day:

The National Dog Day Foundation supports all breeds and varieties of dogs and discourages purchases from unethical backyard breeders and puppy mills; instead, they encourage us to support reputable breeders and adopt from rescue organizations or humane societies.

I support this position completely and would only add that it’s important to ask yourself before you adopt any pet, “Am I willing to provide a home for this animal for the rest of its life.”  Many things in our lifetime have become disposable — a pet isn’t one of them.  Don’t ask those of us who live that commitment every day to understand when you choose a life style that does not include your pet.

On a lighter note, here is a blog post I think you will enjoy: “Love Me, Love My Dog! It’s Just that Simple”

★~  National Toilet Paper Day:

According to the online Toilet Paper Encyclopedia, toilet paper is one of the most taken-for-granted conveniences of the twentieth (and twenty-first) century.  However, it hasn’t always been this way. There once was a time when humanity was fraught with skid marks and rashes as they fought to wipe up. The most common solution was simply to grab what was at hand: coconuts, shells, snow, moss, hay, leaves, grass, corncobs, sheep’s wool—and, later, thanks to the printing press—newspapers, magazines, and pages of books. The ancient Greeks used clay and stones; the Romans, sponges and salt water. But the idea of a commercial product designed solely to wipe one’s teehineyhocus started about 150 years ago, right here in the U.S.A. .Find out how toilet paper got on the roll by scrolling down to “Did You Know.”

Nothing celebrates useful inventions like actual use, so show your toilet paper your appreciation by grabbing a book or magazine, taking a seat for a while, and celebrating National Toilet Paper Day with the grace and in the tradition of all those who have gone before you.

★~ Cherry Popsicle Day:

From amusement parks and zoos to the family freezer, cherry reigns supreme as everyone’s favorite popsicle flavor. National Cherry Popsicle Day celebrates a sweet treat that is not too fattening or very expensive. And in August, they can be pretty darn refreshing as well!

Unwrap a cherry popsicles and take it outside to a patio chair or the warm front steps. I bet that as you lick your popsicle, all kinds of summer memories will come floating back to you . . . popsicles are magical that way . . .

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1498 – The master artist, Michelangelo, was commissioned to make the Pieta. Originally intended as a monument for his tomb, Michelangelo’s Florentine Pieta has interested historians for centuries because the four-figure sculpture does not feature the perfect proportions that are the hallmark of Michelangelo’s work.

♥~ 1973- The University of Texas at Arlington became the first accredited school to offer studies in belly dancing.

♥~ 1991 – A Gallup Poll revealed that ice-cream lovers take more baths and are less likely to be nervous than people who seldom eat ice cream.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1946 – Valerie Simpson songwriter [w/husband Nick Ashford]: Ashford & Simpson: Never Had It So Good, One Step at a Time, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, You’re All I Need to Get By, Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand, Remember Me

♥~ 1980 – Macaulay Culkin actor: Home Alone series, Getting Even with Dad, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Good Son, My Girl, Uncle Buck, Only the Lonely, The Pagemaster, Richie Rich

★~ Did You Know:  

The first products designed specifically to wipe one’s nethers were aloe-infused sheets of manila hemp dispensed from Kleenex-like boxes. They were invented in 1857 by a New York entrepreneur named Joseph Gayetty, who claimed his sheets prevented hemorrhoids. Gayetty was so proud of his therapeutic bathroom paper that he had his name printed on each sheet. But his success was limited. The Sears Roebuck catalog,came in the mail for free.

Toilet paper took its next leap forward in 1890, when two brothers named Clarence and E. Irvin Scott popularized the concept of toilet paper on a roll.. But it was still an uphill battle to get the public to openly buy the product. “No one wanted to ask for it by name,” says Dave Praeger, author of Poop Culture: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product. “It was so taboo that you couldn’t even talk about the product.”

Toilet paper did not really gain widespread until a new technology demanded it. At the end of the 19th century, more and more homes were being built with sit-down flush toilets tied to indoor plumbing systems. And because people required a product that could be flushed away with minimal damage to the pipes, corncobs and moss no longer cut it. In no time, toilet paper ads boasted that the product was recommended by both doctors and plumbers.

In the early 1900s, toilet paper was still being marketed as a medicinal item. But in 1928, the Hoberg Paper Company tried a different tack. On the advice of its ad men, the company introduced a brand called Charmin and fitted the product with a feminine logo that depicted a beautiful woman. The genius of the campaign was that by evincing softness and femininity, the company could avoid talking about toilet paper’s actual purpose. Charmin was enormously successful, and the tactic helped the brand survive the Great Depression.

By the 1970s, America could no longer conceive of life without toilet paper and panicked at the mere possibility.  In December 1973, Tonight Show host Johnny Carson joked about a toilet paper shortage during his opening monologue. But America didn’t laugh. Instead, TV watchers across the country ran out to their local grocery stores and bought up as much of the stuff as they could. In 1978, a TV Guide poll named Mr. Whipple—the affable grocer who implored customers, ”Please don’t squeeze the Charmin”—the third best-known man in America, behind former President Richard Nixon and the Rev. Billy Graham.

Currently, the United States spends more than $6 billion a year on toilet tissue—more than any other nation in the world. Americans, on average, use 57 squares a day and 50 lbs. a year. And in case you are wondering… 72 percent of people hang the roll with sheets going *over* not under.

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I buy Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper, and I’m proud to say that Cole has noticed the difference when he has used lesser quality toilet paper.  Walmart tries to pass its White Cloud off as a soft, less expensive alternative to Charmin Ultra Soft, but it doesn’t even come close. No buts about it — Charmin is best, in my opinion.

Inquiring minds want to know, what brand of toilet paper do you prefer?

♥