when i was a kid, we had hankies; if you were lucky, you had hankies with cute animal pictures on them, or embroidered flowers. when i had a bad cold, i used toilet paper or dad’s huge hankies. tissues just didn’t exist, except perhaps in doctors’ surgeries. but gradually, over the years, disposable paper tissues started to assert themselves. parents of young children began to consider the family size box of tissues as necessary as toilet paper. then came the patterned boxes, and then the purse pack. the arrival of purse pack tissues was the last nail in the coffin of the hanky. i was even surprised to discover one day that a box of tissues had introduced itself to my house; someone had thoughtfully brought them around when we gathered because a friend had died. the box stayed on top of the piano in the living room for years.

of course, purse pack tissues can be very handy when you’re travelling, especially in places where toilet paper can’t be assumed. but they’ve become so ubiquitous that nearly everyone carries them, & here in germany the brand-name “tempo” has become the word for tissue. nobody, it seems, uses hankies anymore – except perhaps my mother, & me. i still have some (rather threadbare) hankies that i inherited from my gran, & one very large white one which it’s possible i may have originally “borrowed” from dad. i don’t remember buying any hankies, ever, except as presents for gran. but now i’ve developed a hankering for handkerchiefs, & since it’s a mere 6 weeks to my birthday, i’d like to suggest to anyone out there who was planning to send me some extravagant gift that actually what i’d really like is some nice new hankies. oh, and cloth serviettes. that’s the other thing i’m sick of – paper serviettes. i want cloth ones, like we grew up with. ones that can be washed & used again. i think mum is still using some of the serviettes we grew up with. quite possibly some of the hankies as well.

that’s what i’d like for my birthday this year: cloth handkerchiefs & serviettes that i’ll be able to wash & reuse a hundred or more times.