I Remember Mama ©

“Mama” was a weekly CBS TV series when we seniors were kids (from July 1949 to March 1957) and I remember like it was yesterday going, as a family, to Grand pop Milby’s house to watch it on Friday nights on his ten inch black & white TV. It was a major thing when he got a 12 inch set; we still didn’t even have a TV yet! My mom enjoyed it too, until the boxing and wrestling came on afterwards! I still remember the “Good to the last drop” Maxwell House coffee commercials!

That TV series was based on an earlier Broadway play by John Van Druten. Druten had based his play on Kathryn Forbes novel Mama’s Bank Account, which was originally published by  Harcourt Brace in 1943. The play premiered on Broadway on October 19, 1944, at the  Music Box Theatre  in New York City, where it ran for 713 performances; it was produced by  Richard Rodgers  and  Oscar Hammerstein II. If you are from that era you certainly remember the prolific music of Rodgers and Hammerstein. This play was Rogers’ last work before his death in December of 1944.

Invariably I start thinking more about my mom during this time of year; I’m not exactly sure why but I have a few ideas I’ll share with you. First of all, it may be because her birthday, February 14, 1913 is coming up and we’re planning to go out to the cemetery to freshen up her flowers. On her grave marker is the symbol of “Praying Hands”which is so appropriate because she was the most prayerful woman I’ve ever known. In fact there’s no doubt in my mind that she bailed me out off a lot of trouble with those prayers!!!

One of my earliest and favorite All About Seniors columns I ever wrote was after I visited her grave and had a four word conversation with a guy on his knees at the grave next door pulling up every unwanted weed or improper blade of grass. The conversation went like this:

Him…..”My wife” Me…..”My parents”. That’s all we said to each other and that’s all we needed to say to know exactly how we were feeling together.

Another more recent reminder of mom is kind of funny. During this recent cold weather my wife and I have been using more hand lotion than normal. Well, one of us must have hit the pump harder than usual (I’ll take the blame!), and I had to order a new bottle. I don’t know what prompted the conversation but both of us remembered that our moms’ favorite handlotion was Jergens (Original Cherry-Almond scent).

If you’ve ever smelled it, likely you still remember that unique aroma. That conversation stayed on my mind such that about 2 AM I woke up, punched in Jergens Hand Lotion on my Amazon phone app and almost Bingo, a large bottle was on our front porch a couple days later; what an incredible world we live in!

A little history about Jergens might be interesting too: The Andrew Jergens Company (originally the Jergens Soap Company) was founded in 1882 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Andrew Jergens Sr. and Charles H. Gielgud. It started with soap products, including coconut-based soaps.

In the early 1900s, the company introduced its breakthrough product: a cherry- almond scented hand lotion. By 1901, this cherry-almond lotion—now known as Jergens Original Scent—became the best-selling hand lotion in America. It has remained iconic and is still sold today, famous for its distinctive scent, quick absorption, and moisturizing properties. The lotion gained massive popularity in the 20th century, (possibly on “Soap Operas” which may be where our moms probably heard it advertised), often associated with soft, smooth skin and frequently mentioned in vintage ads, family traditions, and nostalgic recollections (e.g., grandmothers using it from glass bottle packaging in earlier eras).

Ever since then, when I “Mash” the pump, as middle Georgians are fond of saying, I come out to proclaim to my wife: “I Remember Mama!” What a delightful experience during these dreary, gray, cold, winter days!

If you order some Jergens you may just Remember your Mama too and I hope your “Mama Memories” are as precious as our Mama Memories are!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors, see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA.