Dishwashing Is Nice…..
Well, Almost!
"Joy….. get some and
make dishwashing almost nice. Tonight."
-- Ron Rawson
Lincoln, Me. (DG)---
 When the shocking subject of this article took place, the Federal
Trade Commission was on the job monitoring the advertising of TV,
radio, and printed material. If any advertising misled the people in the
slightest, the F.T.C. conducted an investigation for the
removal of the naughty advertising. Now that you know this, please read on
about what was said about Procter & Gamble’s Joy Dishwashing
Liquid.
There are a lot of words people think of when it comes to washing
dishes. Some of those words can't be printed in this article--- that is,
if it is to be written in good taste. Since the main idea is to attract
you readers into reading this stuff, we won’t get into those disgusting
words.
Out of the endless list of words in the English language, the least
likely word to be associated with dishwashing was "nice"---
unless there was (or is) a human being on this earth who didn’t mind
washing dishes (since it takes all kinds to make up a world, there might
be a few people who enjoyed dishwashing).
A series of radio commercials during the mid 1950’s featured a
product that made the claim of making dishwashing nice--- well almost
nice! You might think the product in question was an automatic dishwasher,
because since it was the machine that did the dirty work of cleaning
dishes, it had the potential of making dishwashing not only almost nice,
but wonderful! Nice guess, but none of the makers of automatic dishwashers
aired any commercials of this type (as far as I know). Actually, the
concept of the automatic dishwasher was still new during the 1950’s. The
nice dishwashing product was a vital cog in the operation of the manual
dishwasher (a.k.a. the regulation human being). It was Joy, "The
Liquid Dishwasher."
During the mid 1950’s, radio listeners of the CBS serial YOUNG
DR. MALONE heard some unbelievable interview commercials on how Joy
and "nice" were closely associated with each other. The
commercial began with announcer Ron Rawson introducing himself as the
commercial spokesman for Joy. He visited the home of a
housewife who used Joy for the very first time. In order for
the listeners to hear what was said, Rawson took a tape recorder for his
interview. The housewife mentioned that she was originally skeptical how
easy the dishwashing session would be, but when she began doing her
dishes, the housewife was easily convinced how easy and fast it was when Joy
was used. The housewife even stated that dishwashing with Joy
was "almost nice."
What she meant by "almost nice" was complex, and most
likely its definition won’t be found in the dictionary, despite the 2
words aren’t considered profane. Let’s break down what the housewife
liked about using Joy:
1.) Since Joy was made in liquid form, it completely
dissolved in water. This was in contrast with powdered soaps and
detergents who had a reputation of leaving gunk on the bottom of the
dishpan when it didn’t dissolve properly.
2.) Since it was considered a detergent, Joy didn’t
leave a disgusting and slippery film on the surface of the wash
water.
3.) As for the dishes themselves, the dishes were clear and/or
streak free.
4.) The dishwater was fresh and clear even after washing the
greasiest pots and pans.
5.) The dishwashing was done quickly.
6.) The housewife’s hands were still soft.
 To round up what was said, Rawson added an important definition the
housewife in the interview didn’t mention. Joy saved
money!
The housewife admitted she still wasn’t a fan of dishwashing, but
using Joy made her work a little more en"joy"able
(sorry for the pun, I had to say it!).
In conclusion, the Federal Trade Commission had a hand in
abolishing commercials for (believe it or not) shaving sandpaper; remedies
that had nothing to do with specific human organs; and other controversial
subjects. Nothing was ever said about Joy’s "almost
nice" commercials being false, so we have to conclude that "The
Liquid Dishwasher" did indeed make dishwashing "almost
nice" for all the people who used it during the mid 1950’s.
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