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If your coworkers came to work this morning clutching towels, sure, they could just be really excited about the long weekend. But since it’s May 25th, it’s more likely they’re banding with other Douglas Adams fans to commemorate Towel Day. I came to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy via its MS-DOS Apple IIe game version–’90 was a long, dry summer, and I needed to engage in fantasies in which the phenomenal world no longer existed. So: towels. For those of us who are sans towel today, here’s some history on the tradition, taken from towel headquarters:
Partly it has great practical value–you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth…you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
If merely toting isn’t enough, it’s possible there’s a towel party in your area–check the forums. Has anyone ever been to one? This one last year in Finland looks festive. Towels don’t exactly beget light sabers, but today is also Universal Day of the Jedi, which marks the 30th anniversary of the original film’s release.
Comments (12)
Comment
lol. i just read HHGG this summer & loved it. if i knew there was a towel day i would’ve read it sooner.
posted by trouble on 5-25-2007 at 5:25 pm
a few friends and i brought towels to high school one year (about 5 years ago) for towel day, but i had completely forgotten about its existence until i read this post. long live HGTTG!
posted by ks on 5-25-2007 at 8:41 pm
Happy Towel Day, all you hoopy froods!
posted by Doc on 5-26-2007 at 12:28 pm
Whoa, thanks for linking!
The Towel Day festivities @ Cosmic Comic Cafe, Finland, Turku started last year.
I read the Worst Poetry in Universe there this year too, last Friday.
If you happen to be in Finland May 25th, you are warmly welcomed in Cosmic Comic Cafe — assuming you’re wearing your towel, of course. ;)
posted by Jarmo Lundgren on 5-27-2007 at 6:07 am
My good friends and I organized Towel Day at our school this year. I, however, wound up spending most of that day at home. (But I did always know where my towel was!)
posted by Emma A. on 5-27-2007 at 1:50 pm
man, i wish i would have known there was a towel day- i love the hitchhiker’s guide guide to the galaxy books!
posted by wifi on 5-27-2007 at 3:17 pm
man, i wish i would have known there was a towel day- i love the hitchhiker’s guide guide to the galaxy books!
posted by wifi on 5-27-2007 at 3:18 pm
Don’t forget to bring a towel!
posted by spanky on 5-28-2007 at 3:31 am
i remember a slow computer from willow hill one summer. your imaginative journeys remind me of “contact” i will visit here more, with a towel; of course
posted by viking41 on 5-28-2007 at 8:16 am
I bought a towel special for the day, a blue one, and wore it all day. I took pictures with it and posted it on my Facebook. My friends all thought I was nuts, but this article just proves I’m not. Thank you Mental_Floss! You rock! Saw your co-founder at the Pop Culture in the Classroom conference at Teachers College in NY a while ago. Great stuff! In gratitude of this article I will finally get my subscription (I have been talking about for a while).
Love HHGTTG :)
posted by Chris on 5-28-2007 at 6:12 pm
hii,
I get my lovely towel on my shoulder all the time. This article is really what i have been looking for.
Best Regards,
Eliena Andrews
posted by Eliena Andrews on 5-28-2007 at 11:59 pm
I can’t believe I forgot towel day! I even skipped school that day to prepare for my birthday (May 26) and I forgot towel day! dang… I’ll need to add that to my home-made calendars for next year
posted by Korin on 5-29-2007 at 11:40 am