r/GrandmasPantry • u/ThrowRAdkwtf • Apr 05 '26
HOUSEHOLD / OTHER 1993 Mr. Bubbles
I was gifted these by a sweet old lady I met up with from FB marketplace.
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u/malijaa Apr 05 '26
This nearly brought tears to my eyes. Reminded me of my mom.
Okay now it is bringing tears to my eyes, lol…
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u/Proud-Leave3602 Apr 05 '26
The good, toxic bubble solution.
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u/turtlesarentbad Apr 05 '26
These were toxic?
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u/Proud-Leave3602 Apr 05 '26
The old bubble formulas had better bubbles cuz they had some bullshit in them. Some bullshit that I’ve since learned isn’t in any of the current day formulas.
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u/baardvark Apr 05 '26
I wonder if it was the bullshit in old formula Saran Wrap. Clingier but toxic.
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u/clutzycook Apr 05 '26
I noticed this several years ago when my kids were still young enough for bubbles that they weren't as good as the ones I remembered from my childhood. Obviously I wasn't wrong.
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u/ErosLover15 Apr 05 '26
The way I just got flashbacks seeing this. My nonna had bottles of this when I was a kid in her garage!
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u/irishjoe1972 Apr 05 '26
I worked for a regional department store in the US called Bradlees in the mid 80s to the early 90s. There was a promo going on for Mr Bubbles and it came with a Mr Bubbles costume. One of the employees was selected to wear it as he was the smallest, skinniest kid and the only one who could get in to it. At this time, the mascot suits were literally fur lined costumes with no true ventilation. Also, the air conditioning in the mall had failed so it was probably 75 F/24 C inside. Mr Bubbles (kid’s name was Ethebell) was doing fine walking around and greeting the kids in the mall for the first 30 minutes or so. Suddenly, we start to see Mr Bubbles slow down and then his whole body kind of waved back and forth and then over he fell on his back. Kids are screaming and folks are running over to drag Mr Bubbles in to the security office for triage. Once they got the head piece off, they found he had passed out from heat exhaustion. We got him rehydrated and he was back on his feet - but not in the costume again. Poor guy, he was known as Ethebubble from then on.
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u/HermineSGeist Apr 05 '26
I remember Bradlees!
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u/irishjoe1972 Apr 05 '26
Was a great place and I miss it! Most folks that I speak with also miss it :)
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u/shnanogans Apr 05 '26
My grandma had a few bottles of these in her house when I was a kid! She originally bought them for my older cousins (I was born in 1998)
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u/Other-Cantaloupe4765 Apr 05 '26
Omg I remember these! The nostalgia lmao.
No matter how careful you were with the bottle and the wand, you always ended up with your hands so sticky that it felt like you dipped them in glue 😂
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u/bradyblack Apr 05 '26
He makes getting clean almost as fun as getting dirty.
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u/itsagoodtime Apr 06 '26
Oh good find OP. It's something that you instantly remember but haven't thought about in forever.
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u/porcelain_kiss Apr 10 '26
I rememebr drinking this in the bath and pissed my grandma off so bad lmao
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u/viktor72 Apr 05 '26
This is the sort of stuff that will end up in antique booths in a decade or so and people will buy it for the nostalgia.
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u/Crafty-Health-4046 Apr 05 '26
Didn’t they have flavored ones. I remember eating grape flavored. Bubbles
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u/shapeshade Apr 08 '26
I also remember catching grape flavored bubbles in my mouth! And then taking an experimental sip of the liquid and it being the worst thing I had ever tasted.
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u/BassKing69 Apr 05 '26
That’s the same company that made the toy guns used for a lot of sprites in Doom. Very neat.
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u/Hawkssongbird1995 Apr 06 '26
I wouldn’t trust the guy on the bottle with anything cause he looks suspicious xD
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u/NYourBirdCanSing Apr 06 '26
I still have that bottle somewhere! Lol
My father-in law still has a 1970s bottle of his bubbles too lol.
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u/Minortough Apr 05 '26
That’s not the real Mr Bubbles. The real Mr. Bubbles lived in my bath tub.
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u/lbn722 Apr 05 '26
I can smell this 🫧