For the past few years I have been frustrated by the increasing difficulty I am have when shopping for blocky toothbrushes. Frequently I have had to settle for toothbrushes with displeasing round handles (they don't fit in so many toothbrush holders and they just look so big and clunky).
While listening to an early episode of 99% Invisible, a podcast I mentioned a few days ago, I finally learned why hunt for the classic boxy toothbrush has become so hard, and why it is likely to stay that way.
[Embedded audio]
It seems that someone finally thought about how people actually hold toothbrushes and discovered that the square shape wasn't necessarily best suited to the way most people grip them. Seemingly overnight most major manufacturers dropped the old design and adopted the new one (Is this not also a major intellectual property issue?).
Of course this happened quietly. There was no announcement made to indicate that one toothbrush handle style would be phased out and another introduced. They were there one day and beginning to vanish the next.
Unfortunately, at least as far as I am concerned, I am one of those individuals whose grip style was suited to the classic toothbrush shape (though I don't know if my grip suited the shape or if the shape shaped my grip).
Now, years after the major shift in toothbrush design, I am left hunting for (and hoarding) toothbrushes with the handle style that I like with the knowledge that they are likely soon to be extinct. With each passing brush the my remaining stash becomes valuable. And replenishing my stash is becoming harder and harder.
Though it may have several admirable features and fans, like the incandescent lightbulb, the classic blocky handled toothbrush seems to on irreversible march towards oblivion. And though our numbers may be few, there are at least a few of us who will mourn the passing of these simple bathroom accoutrements.
(Just to be clear, I really do appreciate 99% Invisible's story on design changes to toothbrush handles. This clears up something I have been wondering about for years. Furthermore, I don't even bear any ill will to those who have inadvertently lead to the demise of my preferred toothbrush handle shape - they were just trying to come up with a better toothbrush handle shape. I just wish my preferred style of toothbrush handle hadn't been pushed out of the marketplace.)
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2 comments:
I was in Sobey's the other day buying a toothbrush, and I'm pretty sure I noticed some of the older, square-handled ones you are describing. I can buy up their stock and mail them to you if you like. Or I can buy them and keep them here, so if something happens to the NS supply, or if something happens to Nova Scotia itself, you can have an NL supply to rely on (sort of the same situation as the royal family never flying together, except much more important).
Thanks for the offer but my last re-stocking should probably last me for a while (and involving other people in this would make me feel as though I am a crazy person).
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