Member-only story

Bertie Germ Made Me Squirm

But at least he made me brush

Barb Dalton
4 min readApr 14, 2022
Image by Tumisu, from Pixabay

Oh, the memories that suddenly pop into my head!

I read the Google news feed that comes into my inbox daily on ‘Fecal Matter.’ You may think my choice of ‘need-to-know’ news is a trifle weird for readers who don't know me.

For those of you that do, you’ll understand that I simply want to keep abreast of any scoop the wonderful world wide web is posting about my daughter and her partner who have a fashion brand, ‘Fecal Matter.

The airwaves about Hannah and Steven have been silent of late, but there’s no end to poop stories that either make me shudder, laugh or — as in this case — reminisce.

It was an article from a website I’ve never heard about called lifesavvy. It was about whether you should disinfect your toothbrush.

It tweaked my interest and instantly sent me back to my youth.

Oral care 1970s New Zealand style

When I was a kid, oral care was drummed into us using a ‘mascot’ called Bertie Germ. He was an animated toothbrush who educated us on the importance of brushing your teeth twice a day — or else he would proliferate your pearly whites and cause havoc.

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Barb Dalton
Barb Dalton

Written by Barb Dalton

Mum to 3 humans; Cat lover. A Kiwi-Canuck. Nursing Instructor by day; rants and reminisces by night. Owner of Nursing Notes and a proud Booster of A+ stories

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