RESEARCH QUESTION: Carnival Cruise Line developed its signature "towel animal" gimmick over the decades in the race to distinguish one cruise line from another. Stewards receive more than 10 hours of training devoted to creating those cheeky little monkeys, elephants and other creatures guests find in their staterooms -- upward of 7 million beasts a year.
Now Carnival's out promoting "Towel Creations" ($12.95), a new instructional book available onboard to easily swayed cruisers with loose wallets. (Guests have reportedly been begging for one for years.) The new how-to includes written instructions, step-by-step drawings for 40-plus designs and color photographs of the finished products. We wondered: If we studied the 88-page volume, could we, too, transform everyday cotton towels into a veritable menagerie?
METHODOLOGY: We took four towels and washcloths, cleared the dining room table and locked the door. Per the instructions, we gathered construction paper and scissors to make eyes, noses and whiskers, and we figured on creating as many animals as we could in about an hour or two, starting with the adorable hanging monkey. What hubris.
RESULTS: Most of Carnival's cotton critters are created from one of three main bodies (A, B and C, with directions for each at the start of the book), plus the addition of a towel or washcloth to make the head, fashion the ears or form a tail. We made Main Body A with no problem, and turned to the instructions for the hanging monkey.
We were told to "refer to Main Body A and hold 2 legs in each hand then pull apart to make it longer and hang it up." We referred, we held, we pulled, we didn't even try to hang: It just kept falling apart. We then tried to make the monkey's head using another towel, which we were to fold "in half and fold it over again. Fold both edges into the center to form a triangle. Fold the triangle backwards and fold the two pointed edges in half. Shape the face as a monkey." Huh?
Forty-five minutes later, we threw in the, um, towel.
Chastised, we tried to make the bat, which didn't seem that far off from a paper airplane. Again, failure.
What were we doing wrong? We'd roughly matched the suggested measurements for the towels. We'd followed the written instructions. And yet our towels just refused to fold the way the drawings seemed to indicate they should. We started again, this time using the reclining rabbit as inspiration as it, too, used Main Body A, which by then we'd mastered.
With two failed tries behind us, we put the kibosh on following the rules. By using the instructions as suggestions and not concrete directions, pretty much ignoring the drawings and meditating on the photographs of the finished product, we twisted, prodded, bent and flipped our towels until . . . Frugly the Bunny appeared.
After following the guide's suggestion to "make the animals cuter by adding sunglasses or ribbon," we couldn't help but fall a little bit in love with this two-toned, tag-waving, red-nosed creature.
CONCLUSION. We created a cotton life form but definitely didn't master the art of terrycloth origami.
The written instructions could use editing. We scratched our head over sentences such as "The Main Body 'A' and 'B' does not need to be tight except for Main Body 'C'," and some of the how-to drawings just didn't seem to illustrate the capabilities of normal towels. Maybe Carnival's towels have supernatural powers -- or, more likely, their stewards are just more dexterous. Or maybe we were just being too literal when following the directions; perhaps having a kid's imagination (and talent) would have made the process smoother. No matter: There are certainly far worse ways to spend $12.95 on a cruise.
-- Anne McDonough
The "Towel Creatures" book ($12.95) is available only to Carnival Cruise Line's passengers. Info: 888-227-6482, www.carnival.com.
