Well, it only seems fitting that Mr. Whipple should make an appearance. I mean, with things going as they are with the lack of toilet paper.
Truthfully, I miss Mr. Whipple, The Tidy Bowl Man, and The Frito Bandito. You could count on those guys.
When I was a kid, I would frequently lift the lid of the toilet tank, just to make sure we weren’t the family with The Tidy Bowl Guy. And the Frito Bandito? Forget about it. If ever we had Fritos, I would break out in song. “I yi, yi, yi. I am the Frito Bandiiiitoooo.”
But I think Mr. Whipple made the biggest impact. Whenever I would go to the store with my Mom, which was often, I’d “help” push the cart, looking over the handle, seeing if I could get a glimpse of the guy.
Everyone knew Mr. Whipple. He was a household name, a face known to millions of Americans. In real life, he was an English actor named Dick Wilson. But on screen, we saw him as that nervous grocer. He stayed in that role for 21 years, filming more than 500 commercials. And in each one, he would plead with us, “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin.”
Of course, it was beyond me to follow this directive. At that good grocery store, if toilet paper was on the list, I’d pick up the package, and triumphantly call out (with a note of dereliction in my voice), “I’m squeezing the Charmin.”
Back to Dick Wilson. He was born in Preston, England, on July 30, 1916. For whatever reason, he grew up in Ontario. He couldn’t help but become an actor, as he was the son of two performers. His father was a vaudeville attraction and his mother was a singer. Wilson did some vaudeville, which eventually led to the stage and screen.
By the time Wilson got the call to audition for a toilet paper bit, he had been in a lot of different acting jobs. Everything from Bewitched to McHale’s Navy. But in 1964, Charmin needed a guy, and he was him. He beat out 33 other actors and became George Whipple. For the next two decades, he played the part of
a grocer who appeared to have a great deal of anxiety over customers. It was mostly those giddy housewives who couldn’t resist squeezing the gosh-dang Charmin who caused him the most stress.
A funny side to this? He shot his first commercial in Flushing, New York.
Wilson swore loyalty to Procter & Gamble. He refused to appear in any other commercials or endorse any other products. There was a “morals clause” in his contract as well, placed there to protect the character of Charmin. In other words, Mr. Whipple couldn’t go into any porn parlors to squeeze anything.
Wilson died at age 91 in 2007. That was the same year, the Charmin Bear was introduced. And that’s how his story goes.
Anyway, I think we need a little George Whipple in the world right now. Maybe not to tell people about squeezing, but instead, about sharing.
“Please don’t stash the Charmin.”
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“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.”
― Brian Tracy
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“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.”
― Shannon L. Alder
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“It ain’t no fun if the homies can’t have none. ”
― Snoop Dogg
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