Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Jason Atwell on September 14, 2008, 07:34:41 pm

Title: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: Jason Atwell on September 14, 2008, 07:34:41 pm

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eP2xCrFJPTY (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eP2xCrFJPTY)

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: gerard mcmanus on September 14, 2008, 07:47:23 pm

quite funny,

I was a big pop eye fan when I was a wee yin.

gerard  ;D

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: jeff1 on September 14, 2008, 07:48:52 pm

That's Squeeky and Tosh  ;D

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: Paul Coleman on September 14, 2008, 10:43:37 pm

Classic.  I've not seen one of those cartoons in years.  I liked the harness  :)  .

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: Londoner on September 15, 2008, 07:12:34 am

And they were using squeegees!

 I wonder when that was made. It looks very old to me, possibly even 1920s.
When did squeegees come here? Late 60s or 70s?

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: Tim82 on September 15, 2008, 07:42:21 am

Yeah I thought popeye was around during ww2? why didnt squeegees catch on earlier here then?

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: [GQC] Tim on September 15, 2008, 09:11:44 am

What do you mean 'not today, thank you'!!!!!  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: [GQC] Tim on September 15, 2008, 09:15:08 am

btw, original squeegee was invented in 1936 by Ettore.

They've got some skill with the blade though! haha

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: Tim82 on September 15, 2008, 10:45:56 am

Quote from: [GQC] Tim on September 15, 2008, 09:15:08 am

btw, original squeegee was invented in 1936 by Ettore.

They've got some skill with the blade though! haha

I know but i wonder why people didnt start using it in the mainstream til the 70s or 80s?

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: Ian Lancaster on September 15, 2008, 05:51:07 pm

I started in the late 60's and commercial companies were already using them.

Scot Young (of SYR) had the original contract to sell squeegees in the UK, but couldn't get the British Shiner  to accept them.

He hired a taxi for a week, drove around London and every time he saw a shiner polishing a window, he leapt out with his bucket, swabbed the glass, squeegeed it and jumped back into his taxi and drove off.

Within the week the story of the ~"Phantom Window Cleaner" was all over London, shiners were demanding to know where they could get this "magic stick", and Scot Young's name (and fortune - he's a multi-millionnaire) was made. 

It's the same story now - WFP has been around for years, but it's only in the last few years that it's becoming widely used.

Title: Re: Popeye the window cleaner
Post by: [GQC] Tim on September 16, 2008, 12:48:44 am

Quote from: Tim82 on September 15, 2008, 10:45:56 am

Quote from: [GQC] Tim on September 15, 2008, 09:15:08 am

btw, original squeegee was invented in 1936 by Ettore.

They've got some skill with the blade though! haha

I know but i wonder why people didnt start using it in the mainstream til the 70s or 80s?

Because it's the English, they've always been a bit behind.  :D  :P

Honestly, I don't know, back then the world was still a LOT bigger, if you know what I mean, but still it really shouldn't have taken 3 decades or something to get accepted/introduced.

I like that Phantom window cleaner with magic stick, that's got to be the best marketing for a product ever. Simply brilliant.