Product Placement

   With all the nostalgic reminiscing about items and objects from the past "good old days,"  I've yet to hear or read of anyone's commenting on one of the most iconic products of its time, and  I don't mean the familiar packaging of Pall Mall cigarettes or Coca Cola.  I refer to the personal product that started with  the letter K.
   I used to work in Sara's store, a building attached to my house, so I have first-hand knowledge of sales in that line.  The K product was kept in a glass-fronted cabinet along the wall, on the bottom shelf, visible only to those in need;  no one had to refer to it by name; the customers, almost always women, could help themselves without the embarrassment of having to mouth the words.  At the time, the K brand pretty much owned the market, the one and only choice; the M. product surfaced a little later.
   Though ostensibly keeping a low profile, K was packaged in such a way that it silently screamed its name.  Nothing else came close to the shape and size of the box.  It was mostly blue, rectangular, about 14 inches by 10 inches by 4 inches deep would be my estimate, and contained about maybe twenty or so of the items.  Now the box itself would be signal enough, but in an attempt to maintain  discretion even further, the distinctive box would be deposited in an even more distinctive paper bag.  The bags came with the K, since the box with its unique shape would not fit in any ordinary grocery bag.
   The paper sacks or bags were made expressly for the size and shape of K.  They could not have held any other item sold in the store.  And besides, each box of K required a corresponding bag.  I can see, and even feel, that bag.  It was of quite thin, faintly striated paper, pale beige in tone, with a single seam along the bottom.  Just strong enough to hold only the box of K and almost strong enough to prevent a sharp corner of the box from poking through, which only occasionally happened.
    I think when I started to work in the store, a box of K cost 35 cents, then 39, 45, and 49 cents.  After the customer paid for their purchase, they were free to retreat in peace if it was a good day.  But some days, and remember this was often a spontaneous purchase, the unfortunate customers had to run the gauntlet----the group of pre-teen and early-teen boys swigging from soda bottles and smoking cigarettes who hung out in front of the store.  There was nothing the women customers could do other than just press forward, feigning ignorance of the testosterone-fueled comments and leers that were triggered by the sight  of a box in a bag.  That was then, in the early 50's.