Did your dad always carry a handkerchief? If so, white, solid, print (plaid/ bandanna], monogrammed? I’m guessing if he did, he carried it in his back pocket?
Did your mom always carry a handkerchief? Same question as to description.
If so, where did she carry it [purse, pocket, bra, tucked in sleeve]?
Alternatively (or additionally), did she always have a Kleenex stuffed SOMEWHERE, and when she pulled it out, did she always say, “It’s not dirty, just wrinkled!”
**Men: **Do you always carry a handkerchief? Same question as to description.
**Women:**Do you always carry a handkerchief? Description? Where?
What I was specifically interested in is how many men today carry handkerchiefs because their dads did.
My impression is that in my dad’s generation (born in the 1920’s), a man virtually always carried a handkerchief. Even a farmer working in the fields carried a bandanna in his back pocket. My late H (born in 1940) always carried a handkerchief. A man I know who is my contemporary (born in 1950) carries a handkerchief (and even though it’s in a professional setting, he carries a bandanna hankie not a white one). But I’m guessing that younger men (age 20-30) probably DON’T carry handkerchiefs anymore.
I just wanted a general idea of the numbers, and I’m hoping and assuming that people will clarify in their posts.
My father has been dead so long that I’m not absolutely sure, but I believe so.
I have found that some sort of rag is very useful to have on a person at all times. For me it’s not a regulation handkerchief. It could be a shop rag or a piece of an old shirt. I might use it to wipe my face or check the oil. There is always a use. Of course I don’t use a rag when I go out in a suit or to a funeral. Most of the time nobody is concentrating on the cloth in your hand anyway though.
I believe that Daddy used to carry handkerchiefs when he was working, but now that he’s retired, he no longer does this. He mostly wears sweat pants/putter pants, which are so casual that they are practically pajamas.
I always carry a bandana or white hanky when I’m out and about. I also carry paper tissues, for actual noseblowing. I have over a dozen bandanas, and I match the color of my panties and bandana to the outfit that I wear, either the main color or an accent color.
If there is a poll I can’t see it because I’m on Tapatalk, but here’s some of my answers anyway!
My grandfather the farmer always carries a bandana, as do many of the farmers (and retired ones like Gramps) do. I see this through multiple generations. (quick aside: contrary to popular belief, the farmers carrying blue bandannas do not team up to fight the farmers carrying red bandannas in the middle of a field late at night Sharks vs Jets style and I’ll deny it under oath). His son, my dad, is an executive and now works from home but he did carry a white handkerchief to work when he worked downtown.
My maternal grandfather owned his own business and carried a white handkerchief everyday.
My SO carries a handkerchief. I have had to convince him that no, the ten year old does NOT need to be the 5th grader with a handkerchief unless he is ready to shell out for karate lessons.
All my grandmothers had the tissues.
My mom is a nurse so we were more likely to be handed leftover (clean) 4x4s.
I currently have two personal packs of Kleenex in my purse, 4 in my car and a package of baby wipes in my glove compartment. We have a lot of allergies…
I said my dad but I don’t know about him. My papaw raised me and he always had a big white hankie. Some of them were fancy, like for church or holidays.
My grandma carried little packs of Kleenex in what she called her pocketbook. It was one of those hard boxes with bamboo handles and little cotton bolls painted all over. That was her church purse anyway. Other times she had a little black leather number.
I started carrying handkerchiefs when I started wearing glasses. Paper products like tissues and paper towels scratch lens, and shirttails or other clothing are not always convenient. A nice cotton handkerchief won’t scratch glasses when cleaning them.
Dad never did, but one of my grandfathers always had a red paisley hankie in his back pocket. Mom’s always got the kleenex, and there were plenty of times she said it wasn’t dirty, just wrinkled.
My dad always had two white handkerchiefs in his pockets. One for his glasses, and one for whatever else you might want a handkerchief for.
My mom was taught to carry two, ‘a shower and a blower’, but by the time I knew her she didn’t do that anymore. She usually had tissues in her purse, though, and yes, we often heard, “It’s not dirty, it’s just wrinkled.” In fact, I’ve used that phrase myself.
My husband carries one, but he also keeps a box of tissues on his desk at work and more often than not he uses those. So I’m not quite sure what the handkerchief is for.
I use the hanky or bandana for cleaning my glasses, or for wiping sweat. It’s Texas, it gets HOT here. I use Kleenex to blow, because I prefer to throw it away rather than tuck it back in my purse for later.
I buy cheap men’s hankies, because I can find them in 100% cotton. I’ve never found ladies’ hankies, except in cotton/poly, or in tiny embroidered squares that are only good for decoration.
My father did, and I do too - although it’s a habit I picked up from scouts rather than him.
I much prefer a kerchief to tissues, because tissues seem messy and wasteful to me. (I wouldn’t blow my nose into a handkerchief, because that’s nasty - but it’s handy to catch the odd drip.)
Generally, folded and put into pants pocket. (Not visibly.)
You’re not going to get a general idea of anything by only allowing people to vote one way. Say you get a hundred people who vote yes. But you have no idea how many people would have voted no if it had been a option. Ten? A hundred? A thousand?
Not interested in the number of people who would have voted no, whether it’s 10 or 10,000. I also don’t care what percent of the SDMB community as a whole had/has dads who carry/carried hankies and who do themselves today. So sue me.
What I’m interested in is two numbers: the number of men whose dad carried a hanky and the number of men who carry one themselves as adults. Right now the poll says that 25 men had dads who carried handkerchiefs, but only nine of those men do themselves. That’s the number I was curious about.
I’m also a little interested in women who carry hankies. And it’s fascinating how many moms say/said, “It’s not dirty, just wrinkled.”
I didn’t vote. One of the most vivid things I remember about my grandfather was he always had a neatly folded handkerchief. It was always a dark solid color. It was very dapper. He still carries them and is still very dapper.
My father doesn’t doesn’t carry one. That was my maternal grandfather.
My father never carried a handkerchief, AFAIK, and still doesn’t. But I do. I guess I have allergies, but I’ll never admit it (a subterfuge borrowed from my ex-wifely-unit). I do like to blow my nose occasionally. Shirt tails are used for cleaning glasses. Also, if there’s no gelled alcohol available, handkerchiefs can be a good wipe for noxious stuff found on countertops, staircase newels, and so forth.
I think the nasty is from tissues, sodden, toted about until finding a receptacle. Clean, clotton, used until washed thoroughly at the next convenience. I bet I have sixteen or twice that of them.
At first you seemed to be only really interested in guy responses, but then you mentioned a slight interest in women who carry, so I decided to drop in.
I live in Japan, and carrying handkerchiefs is the norm, mainly to dry one’s hands after washing them in a public restroom. While hand dryers and/or paper towels are usually provided nowadays, thanks to the recent nuclear plant bust, we’re rationing electricity here and many places have pulled the plug on hand dryers/not bothered to refill the paper towel dispensers.
They also come in handy for placing on the lap during meals, wiping away the copious sweat of disgusting Tokyo summer heat, etc.
Oooh, forgot to add: using hankies to blow one’s nose–let alone in PUBLIC–is a guaranteed gross-out. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the old “OMG you blow your nose in thar, ball it up and then CARRY IT AROUND with you? And then USE IT AGAIN later?” query. OTOH, digging around, dislodging then noisily sucking up/swallowing food bits w/ a toothpick thoughtfully provided by the restaurant/enclosed inside your disposable chopstick sheath is just fine. Bon apetit!
