The Whoopee Cushion - A Tribute

Consider the whoopee cushion, also referred toThere were primarily two companies that sold
as the Poo Poo Cushion and Razzbery Cushion. Anthese types of pranks over the years. The
object of disgust for some, merriment for others.aforementioned S.S. Adams,which began business
Invented around 1950 by two employees of thein 1906, and Johnson Smith Company that began
Jem Rubber Company of Toronto Canada,business in 1914. Both companies are still in
goofing around with scrap pieces of rubberbusiness. The gag market evidently is still very
sheeting. Sounds like it was a fun place to work!strong. Johnson Smith published a 500+ page
The company tried to sell the new device to Samcatalogue full of novelties and gags in the 1920's,
Adams, founder of the S.S.Adams Noveltyand my Dad used to order from there from his
Company. But Sam Adams refused, saying thechildhood days until a few years before his death
item was too vulgar and would never sell. Butin 1993. Some comments from the Johnson Smith
other companies that Jem Rubber approached didCompany:
not think the same way. The rest is history."Our story is not without sociological aspects and
So what is the mystique of the whoopeeinfluences. During the 1920s and 1930s, practical
cushion? Flatulence has never been properjokes and home hobbies provided an escape for
behavior in public, at least for many people. Thingspeople wracked with economic struggle brought
that are not proper are left wide open to theon by WWI and the Great Depression. Our
imagination of folks with a sense of humor.catalog provided hours of "escape," fun and
Flatulence jokes are found in the plays of the 5thfantasy for the depressed nation, even without
century BC playwright Aristophanes, in thehaving to order! Even today we hear from people
writings of Homer, Geoffrey Chaucer in hiswho remember our catalog and the "relief" we
Canterbury Tales, in the Arabic tales translated byprovided!"
Sir Richard Burton Tales of 1001 Nights, BenjaminSo there you have it. Sociological aspects from
Franklin and Mark Twain both included referencespranks and jokes, including the whoopee cushion!
to the fart in their writings. Famous company forThere are also the technological aspects of this
such low brow humor, I'd say.that should not be ignored. The original whoopee
My first experience with a whoopee cushion wascushion, made from rubber and inexpensive, has
brought about by my Dad, one of the greatgiven way to a wonder of technology, the
practical jokesters and pranksters I ever knew.remote control whoopee cushion!
When us kids were called in to supper, we neverWhile there is always a price to pay for
knew what was in store. A dribble glass, a pile oftechnology, the modern version has 15 different
rubber dog doo doo on our plates, soup spoonssounds, can be operated with the remote control
with clear plastic inserts that soup would roll offup to fifty feet away. But there is still room for
of, a telescopic fork that Dad would extend tothe original version of the whoopee cushion. It
swipe food off your plate, rubber vomit. Anddoes take a certain degree of skill in use, and
between meals was no different. Chinese Fingerthere are ways of getting different noises from
Traps, Joy Buzzers, cans of mixed nuts thatthe original whoopee cushion. For the purist, the
when opened out shot a long snake. By the timeoriginal. For everyone else, the remote control
us kids were old enough to leave home, we hadversion.
pretty much seen it all, prankster wise anyway.So whether the results of using a whoopee
Some of us had enough of the pranks when wecushion (either the vintage or new-fangled style)
were kids, some of us were hooked on them. Imake you laugh, cringe, or turn away in disgust
confess to being hooked on them.the whoopee cushion is here to stay.