Here at Retro-a-go-go! we spend a lot of time going to antique shows and stores, as well as digging through on line auctions for the unique and unusual. Here’s a rare vintage novelty that didn’t have the staying power of the joy buzzer or the whoopie cushion: it’s the talking wolf from Noma Electric Corp. (odd. It’s neither electric, nor a Christmas light, which is where we usually see the Noma name.)
Apparently this item “talked” when your thumbnail was dragged along the ridges of the plastic ribbon that hung out of the base of the head. We’ve seen this type of early, low cost “technology” in toy robots from the late 50′s/early 60′s. Believe us, it “talks” in name only. It’s an odd sound that needs to be repeated over and over to understand a word.
Novelties like this seem to have died out with the passing of bar and tavern culture. Believe it or not kids, there was a time when alcohol was far more prevalent in American society. Often homes of the 50′s and 60′s were built with an extensive home bar in the basement or den. Driving drunk was frowned upon, but we didn’t have the stiff penalties that come along with the offense that we have now. Watch just about any old black and white movie, somewhere in there is a town drunk, an amusing drunk friend or a drunk Uncle. And the drinking on the job that appears in Mad Men isn’t an exaggeration. From execs to factory workers, drinking was far more permissive. We took a tour of a Budweiser factory where we were told that for many years, workers were allowed to drink on the job.
But all of this is a detour from novelties like the talking wolf. As mentioned before, whoopie cushions, joy buzzers, itching powder, X-Ray specs, exploding cigars and many many more knee slappers were popular not only with kids but folks knocking a few back with friends out at a bar or at home on the weekends in suburbia.
You can still find many of these items at retail, but a joy buzzer made of cheap plastic just doesn’t have the same kick.
A rising tide of political correctness, changing tastes in humor and a much more sober society has wiped out many of the more racy and or outlandish items. If you want to see how good some of them got, check out the book “Mail Order Mysteries”. It’s a recent book that documents some of the novelties found in the old comic-book ads.
We’re still waiting for the definitive coffee table book on vintage barware and adult novelties.
He would also make a nice gear shift knob!
