You can get a closer look at each of these wonderful items by clicking on it. You'll need a closer look because I'm showing you three examples of the weirdest toy I ever came across — the Lovable Smoking Traveler's Pet. I'm not sure what's so lovable about smoking or just who's doing any travelling here…but that's only the beginning of my bewilderment. When Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were selling Winstons, they weren't the only Hanna-Barbera characters who had the habit.
I had a couple of these back around '63 or thereabouts. The premise was that you'd take the little plastic figure of Yogi Bear or whoever and wedge one of the little "cigarettes" into the hole in its mouth and light it. It was supposed to blow smoke rings…but when my friend Randy and I tried it with ours, I think we just got a few wisps of smoke in no particular form and then as the fake cigarette burned down, it started to melt the doll. In fact, I think the only part of it Randy liked was seeing Huckleberry Hound with his face melted. We let it go and the doll got shorter and lost its color and looked a lot like Droopy.
We found these in a crummy toy store on Westwood Boulevard. They were a dime or so apiece and there were many to choose from, including Popeye and (I think) Mighty Mouse. I remember thinking that the Popeye one should come with a pipe instead of the tiny cigarettes. There was no evidence on the packaging that the companies that owned the characters had sanctioned or even heard of these bizarre playthings that were made in Hong Kong.
But you have to admire the total lack of logic. First, there's the assumption that children are eager to see their favorite characters smoke…although, come to think of it, Randy and I did buy them. On top of that, they promote two things we really want to see kids do: Smoke and play with matches…although, again come to think of it, I've never smoked. Not once in my entire life, not even one puff. I always thought it was because I find the odor so repulsive but maybe, deep down, I just have a fear that my face will melt until I look like Droopy Dog. Perhaps these toys weren't such a bad idea after all.