What age were you expected to carry your own?

[juliette]

If your parents made you use hankies when you were little, what age were you when you were expected to know to have one in your pocket? I'm guessing it would be around school age, "Make sure you have your hankie in your pocket in case you sneeze at school!"

Hmmm.

[Rick]

Really cute idea for a thread!

I was definitely a hanky user as a child - I've always carried one for as long as I can remember, so I don't think I needed to be reminded.

I know I blew my nose quite loudly for my age when I started school - some other children commented on it when I blew in the playground! Not quite the "foghorn blow" I have now as an adult, but I definitely honked (or at least "tooted"!).

I think when I was about 8 or 9 one of the teachers from a class next door came in (obviously fed up with the snufflers in her class!!) and asked us all to hold up our hankies to show we'd got them with us! I was prepared, obviously!

[juliette]

Really cute idea for a thread!

I was definitely a hanky user as a child - I've always carried one for as long as I can remember, so I don't think I needed to be reminded.

I know I blew my nose quite loudly for my age when I started school - some other children commented on it when I blew in the playground! Not quite the "foghorn blow" I have now as an adult, but I definitely honked (or at least "tooted"!).

I think when I was about 8 or 9 one of the teachers from a class next door came in (obviously fed up with the snufflers in her class!!) and asked us all to hold up our hankies to show we'd got them with us! I was prepared, obviously!

And what an adorable child you were! Well done for being top of the class as a hankie waver. That reminded me of something similar in one of the "Miss Read" books about a schoolteacher in England in the olden days. She did a hankie check before taking the children out on walks, and they had to hold their hankies up in the air! Cute or what?!

[Rick]

Aww, thanks, Juliette - I'll definitely have to read those stories.

I'm still a hanky-waver today . Whether I'm still adorable I'll leave others to decide !

[Guest]

Juliette .. what a great thread ... I presume you were a hanky-user as a child (and now ??)

I was definitely a hanky user as a child and have always carried one for as long as I can remember, so like Rick I don't think I needed to be reminded. I honked well and do now too .. (don't I C ?)

I think when I was about 8 or 9 and in the cubs (young boy scouts) when Akela introdcued a rule that we all had to show our clean hankiies at some meetings and also whan we went on outdoor events.

H

[Kleeny]

Nice question. I remember making a conscious decision to carry hankies around the age age 12/13. Before I went to school I used to fold a mansize tissue or two, and put them in my trouser pockets, but was finding that at the end of the day that they were unused and crumpled, so beyond use in my eyes, and I was getting tired of this, plus I wear glasses and tissues aren't good for cleaning, as they leave scratches.

I already had some hankies that my Gran fron Norway, but they were very dull, and I wanted white ones, so I went to our local store where I knew they stocked single hankies, and I bought a couple, and have used them ever since.

I think about stopping sometimes, and go on to using little pocket packs, but I can't see myself doing that really.

Oddly enough, I was on the train back from my parents the other day, and got sat next to this talkative 13/14 year old, anyway, I felt a sneeze coming on so I got my blue hankie out and although the sneeze didn't materialise, I blew my nose lightly. Seeing this, the lad digged in his pocket and bought his hankie out too! It was quite a large bordered hankie which he played with for a while, occasionally wiping his nose with it in the meantime.

I was gobsmacked that he had one, as he wasnt a posh kid at all, (I sometimes link hankie use to class) and it did seem odd that he seemed to deliberately get his hankie out after seeing mine, but I am pleased to see hi used one all the same.

[shy guy]

I was 12 when I started carrying a hankie. My father was a handkerchief user, but my mother was opposed to them. Since I didn't have my own, I started smuggling my father's handkerchiefs out of his drawer, carrying them to school, and placing them in the laundry when I got home. My mom never caught on, but I think my dad knew and was secretly pleased. By the time I was 16, I had the means to buy my own and did, and I've been using handkerchiefs ever since.

[cjblo]

I was 12 when I started carrying a hankie. My father was a handkerchief user, but my mother was opposed to them. Since I didn't have my own, I started smuggling my father's handkerchiefs out of his drawer, carrying them to school, and placing them in the laundry when I got home. My mom never caught on, but I think my dad knew and was secretly pleased. By the time I was 16, I had the means to buy my own and did, and I've been using handkerchiefs ever since.

Hi all,

Best wishes all around!

My story (?) is similar to that of shy guy: I use my dad's from the age of five or so, but always out of sight, in secret. Gradually I managed to secure myself a little stack of his. I sometime carried one with me to school, but only when suffering from a cold. I guess dad knew about my "borrowing" his hankies, but did not really care. From the age of sixteen I occasionally bought some, although even that I felt was very embarassing. Luckily that feeling has decreased enough to be able to buy easily when I feel like it.

Take care,

CJ.

[countless]

I honked well and do now too .. (don't I C ?)

H

Unfortunately I do not know about your younger years, but now... MMMMM yes !

As a child I did not use hankies as I was taught to use tissues. From about the age of 6 I had to carry my own.

I remember that my grandparents were convinced hankie users and how it fascinated me.

One day my grandmother lent me one for the night (with some menthol on it) when I was staying with her and had a bad cold.

Sweet childhood memories !

At home there were hankies in my parents' bedroom (sometimes used by my dad) and when I grew a bit older I started to 'borrow' them secretly.

And I finally made the switch to 'the real stuff' when I went living on my own.

C

[juliette]

Wow ... thank you all for sharing your fascinating stories. This thread is turning out very different than I expected. I sort of imagined all these cute little 5 and 6 year old hankie users being coached and reminded by their parents.

I worry about if I ever have a little boy, what age should I buy him hankies and teach him to use them, or if I will (probably) be too embarrassed, and if I can delegate it all to his Dad.

I worry about the strangest things, don't I?

[juliette]

Do you think it will be more difficult with a boy than with a girl?

Well with a boy I would feel that it would be of vital importance to bring him up to use hankies, otherwise I would be depriving the world at large when he grows up. With a girl I wouldn't be that bothered. A snotty girl-child would probably just annoy me actually!

[count tiszula]

When I was young hankies were de rigueur and in essence no mother would let her child leave the house, or indeed the bedroom, without a clean hankie. I assume that at first she would place a hankie in a suitable pocket/sleeve/knickers, but later the child had to put it in himself, because the mother would then always ask "have you got a clean hankie?" before allowing egress. [Of course she would also ask about clean underwear, as it was a well-known fact that any child without clean underwear would be run over, exposing her[the mother, that is] to ultimate disgrace. Whether this was true of hankies as well i can't recall.

Everyone had dozens of hankies, first child-size, then adult-size [obviously with huge ones for boys and tiny girly ones for girls]. This was because everyone used to give everyone else hankies for Christmas, particularly males, who couldn't be given anything even vaguely girly. I sometimes wonder what happened to them all. They weren't cut down for panscrubbers like underwear, but I assume they were just thrown away by the mothers once they had been darned a few times, because they were old and untidy [cf the Victoria and Albert Museum after my mother has tidied it up.] Is there a hankie colection at the V and A?

[juliette]

When I was young hankies were de rigueur and in essence no mother would let her child leave the house, or indeed the bedroom, without a clean hankie. I assume that at first she would place a hankie in a suitable pocket/sleeve/knickers, but later the child had to put it in himself, because the mother would then always ask "have you got a clean hankie?" before allowing egress. [Of course she would also ask about clean underwear, as it was a well-known fact that any child without clean underwear would be run over, exposing her[the mother, that is] to ultimate disgrace. Whether this was true of hankies as well i can't recall.

Everyone had dozens of hankies, first child-size, then adult-size [obviously with huge ones for boys and tiny girly ones for girls]. This was because everyone used to give everyone else hankies for Christmas, particularly males, who couldn't be given anything even vaguely girly. I sometimes wonder what happened to them all. They weren't cut down for panscrubbers like underwear, but I assume they were just thrown away by the mothers once they had been darned a few times, because they were old and untidy [cf the Victoria and Albert Museum after my mother has tidied it up.] Is there a hankie colection at the V and A?

Yummy - I loved reading that!!!! THANK YOU!!! I guess the answer is, then, that the correct time to start giving your child hankies is around when they start walking and are out of their babygros?!?!

[Rick]

Wow ... thank you all for sharing your fascinating stories. This thread is turning out very different than I expected. I sort of imagined all these cute little 5 and 6 year old hankie users being coached and reminded by their parents.

I would have expected the same, originally - and I would guess that if you were to poll the general public, that would be what you might get. I think your self-selecting sample here is skewed - but it gives rise to an interesting result! It seems that most people here were early hanky users AND it seems better than average nose-blowers as children.

I worry about if I ever have a little boy, what age should I buy him hankies and teach him to use them, or if I will (probably) be too embarrassed, and if I can delegate it all to his Dad.

I worry about the strangest things, don't I?

No, you don't - and I'm sure you'd make a great mum and a great teacher if the opportunity comes your way! I think you're right that before school age is the right time to teach this, and the earlier the better - you'd know when they were ready, I'm sure.

Rick