Lately I’ve been longing for the days when “Madge-the-Manicurist” informed us that an evergreen colored Palmolive liquid was special because it “softens hands while you do dishes”. Her catchphrase, “You’re soaking in it” was so simple, so serene, so, so… safe. I was only a child when that ad campaign launched, but she’s forever etched in my TV soaked brain. It seemed then that the only competition to her promise of soft hands was a lemon fresh scent that held an implied sense of Joy or a simple Ivory liquid so pure you could bathe an infant in it.
In today’s supermarket the plethora of choices to clean your dishes is overwhelming. Some dish soaps promise to take us on a ride into a land of revitalization offering a relaxing lavender (or apple, or lemon, or orange) scented escape. Some try to appeal to the enlightened green consumer and recommend chemical free above all else. Others attempt to attract your inner do-gooder and pledge an automatic donation to rescue wildlife with your purchase ensuring that if the formula can dissolve that grease and save the world, it can dissolve Thursdays night’s baked-on mess. If you prefer a supply of super hero ingredients: bleach, oxi, antibacterial, or baking soda, in liquid, spritz or foam to fight those evil germs lurking in your sink or those pesky odors lingering on your dishes, it’s all available on the shelves in any number of brands, colors, and packages.
Today’s ultra formulas are turbo charged multi-tasking liquids for today’s turbo charged and multi-tasking consumers. Newer better formulas now improve our hands look and feel with a multitude of miracle ingredients -- tropical shea butter, aloe vera, pomegranate (this super fruit is apparently known not only for its ingested health benefits, but now for its skin care too), or pomegranate with added vitamin e -- all engineered to battle cooked on foods while keeping our hands young.
Back in the day we never knew just what ingredient in that mild detergent softened our hands. It just did so because Madge said it did. With no spokeswoman to guide us, how will today’s consumer ever find their way? Did we really want all of this innovation in dishwashing? Do we need it? And, should we really expect so much from a bottle of dish soap? The most important thing for me is that it should get my pots and pans clean – after all, I put everything else in my dishwasher with that little double duty gel and powder packet.
I wondered just where Madge was and what she would think about all of this. Maybe she could set today’s consumers straight. So, I googled her. Sadly I found that Madge (iconic actress Jan Miner) had passed away in 2004 at the age of eighty six. This Lee Strasberg trained stage actress is most remembered for bringing to life our beloved wisecracking Madge the Manicurist, a role she embodied for twenty seven years. (Ha, go figure network executives, a character that was around for twenty seven years!) Once retired, Madge lived out her days in Connecticut far away from that chair in the Salon East Beauty Parlor that we remember.
Today I’d love not only a glimpse of her table propped with her tiny bowls of sudsy green goo and a bottle of Palmolive nearby, but a sense of a time when soft hands were enough and wisdom was always dispensed with a polish change.
Life seemed so much simpler then.
We miss you Madge.
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