Sejarah kain tuala jenama "good morning"

kudapadi · Post time 13-11-2011 10:07 PM

Post Last Edit by kudapadi at 13-11-2011 21:09

"Good Morning Towel" originated in China, and were used by doctors, midwives, barbers, and hairdressers. They were boiled for sanitation, and dried in the sun. They're typically white, and compared in size to a hand towel.

Here's some examples of these ubiquitous towels...If u care to look closely...Namely the single Chinese character in the middle (flanked by the double ferns) and the numbers below it. ...

Hongkong

There are subtle versions of these towels too...with nos. running from "96" to "99"...any experts here.... can tell us the difference?...

Example of uses...

You are most welcome to tell us more uses of these white cotton thingies...

Broadway parodies..

credit to : http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1767455

kudapadi · Post time 13-11-2011 10:09 PM

"Good Morning" Towels

In the beginning, there were towels. And in the beginning, there were only Good Morning towels made in China, found in Sibu.

These quintessential,white, cotton, very hygienic towels were seen everywhere. They were usded by doctors, midwives, barbers, hairdressers and school teachers. They were "boiled" or sterilized in hot boiling water for good measure and dried in the sun. One could see them everywhere, on the clothes lines in the backyards,on bamboo poles sticking out from the overhanging shophouses, at the back of motor launches, on lines coming from the coffee shops, on the shoulders of the wharf labourers and tied around the heads of rickshaw drivers.

I continue to buy them, as a habit and use them for everything in the house,especially as face towels.

A friend even claimed that her good skin has been due to her routine wiping of her face every morning with a Good Morning Towel.

Once I had an accident and my face was pretty damaged and a Malay guy came up to tell me that as my wound on the face healed, I could slowly wipe away the redness by using a towel smeared with a good measure of Lux soap. Yes, a Good Morning towel. And that was in 1971 in Kuala Lumpur. I am still grateful to him. I never knew his name but he was very sympathetic and as a fellow patient in the hospital, he was ever so attentive and observant. He had a Good Morning towel wrapped around his arm.

Another friend used Good Morning towels to wipe her new born babies all the time. As these towels are white, any dirt could be seen I suppose. And the sterilizing of the towels would be really good for new born babies.

I remember the pedlars who used to sell buns and eggs at the Sibu wharf. They would cover their buns and eggs with one or two of these Good Morning Towels. They would jump from one motor launch to another. Jumping was easy for them because they were barefooted and light weighted.

In coffee shops in Sibu, all the waiters would have a Good Morning towel placed neatly on their shoulers to wipe away any water mark or stain on the marble tables. When I think of this, I could imagine a whole chorus of these white Pagoda - t-shirted and black trousered waiters dancing and serving coffee with their white Good Morning towels to a good coffee time tune on stage. It would be lovely if someone could choreograph such a dance to commemorate the kopi tiam period.

And finally I would like to share this special scenario with you as it once brought tears to my eyes : a painted basin of hot water with a Good Morning towel on the rim, all ready for the morning washing of the face prepared by an elderly wife for her equally elderly and dearly beloved husband. The husband did not need to brush his teeth because his dentures were in a painted enamal cup waiting for him. The loving couple caught the flash of the morning sun and then disappeared from the sun lit corridor, on the first floor of a shop house. These kinds of scenes are no longer common as first floor open corridors have disappeared from Sibu forever.

Ask any one in Sibu about these towels and they would have a story associated with it.

Go buy a Good Morning Towel. Rub it against your face, and a lot of memories would come back to you. Cheers.

Memoir by I Am Sarawakiana at 7:57 PM

credit to : http://sarawakiana.blogspot.com/2008/01/good-morning-towels.html

kudapadi · Post time 13-11-2011 10:13 PM

http://www.tlhtowel.com/index.ph ... EL&subcat=13x31

96 H(A) 13"x31" - 13x31 - HAND TOWEL | Towel Supply ...

kudapadi · Post time 13-11-2011 10:15 PM

Good Morning Towels

"Good Morning" towels - what else can you call them by? - are so retro! Whenever I see these, I immediately think of my grandfather who used to have one hanging by the sink. He used the towel to wash his face with every morning after brushing his teeth. My grandparents looked after me full-time from 0 to 4 years old, so the graphic on this towel is probably one of the very first designs I ever saw as a tiny tot. *Nostalgic* Also very likely the first English and Chinese words which I recognized and learned how to read. :p

I'm psyched to discover that these towels are still in production today and they can be purchased very cheaply at a neighborhood mom-and-pop shop (in Singapore, Hong Kong and China as far as I know). I couldn't resist and bought some recently. I know that the simple greeting makes me smile at the start of my day, particularly because these towels are associated with happy memories of my childhood. I took the photo above [view large here] and then combed the internet hoping to find more images taken by others. Turned out that there are also some clever folks out there who have already applied the bilingual typographic mark to other products. It's about time!!! I like!

1. Purse, 2. Mug, 3. Plain towels, 4. Bucket Hat (via), 5. Towel Hat (via), 6. Tissue Box Holder (via)

(via)

(via)

(via)

By the way, if you look closely enough, there are subtle variations on these towels. Namely the single Chinese character in the middle (flanked by the double ferns) and the numbers below it. Not sure what this is supposed to mean, I can only guess that maybe the number stands for the production year or something.

Go get some of these retro towels and brighten your morning! 祝君早安~ ^^

Peace out. *xoxo*
-MB.
http://blog.moonberry.com/2011/02/good-morning-towels.html#.Tr_Qxey_jAs

jualtshirt.com · Post time 13-11-2011 11:18 PM

morning{:4_182:}{:4_182:}{:4_182:}

sinnerz · Post time 14-11-2011 12:15 AM

still use it til now...legend towel indeeds

meritokrasi · Post time 14-11-2011 12:17 AM

good night...

spiderman80 · Post time 14-11-2011 12:25 AM

good night...
meritokrasi Post at 14-11-2011 00:17

Have a nice dream.

kudapadi · Post time 14-11-2011 09:48 AM

time kenduri ramai yang guna tuala ni kt tempat aku la...

Projek_Luar · Post time 14-11-2011 09:51 AM

murah jer....

HangPC2 · Post time 14-11-2011 10:45 AM

Sejarah macam Baju Pagoda jugak lah....

fa_mulan · Post time 14-11-2011 11:34 AM

aku buat kain buruk je...

Mr.Timms · Post time 14-11-2011 11:38 AM

tuala good morning ni ada sekilo dalam stor.

sya_sugar_sugar · Post time 14-11-2011 12:40 PM

Tuala Good Morning ni adalah Key-item yang teramat-amat laris di jual di mana2 departmental stores & Hypermarket.

Akulah buyer/purchaser yang telah membuat anjakan paradigma dalam industry Tuala Good Morning (Super Saver Item di Jusco) & now as Tesco Value Good Morning (Ada 3 jenis grade) di Tesco....