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| Smoking really does stunt your growth. Yogi is only 2 inches tall |
News reached Crivens today that popular cartoon character Yogi Bear has been 'let go' by Hanna-Barbera for unacceptable behaviour after being caught smoking during his lunch hour. "We can't have anyone in our employ being seen to indulge in such harmful conduct and setting a bad example to children" said an irate HB spokesman. Yogi's agent was asked to comment, but so far hasn't responded. Meanwhile it's assumed Yogi is off sh*tting in the woods.
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(This is one of the vintage Yogi Bear collectables I referred to recently - a smoking Yogi. I used to have a smoking toy like this when I was a kid, but I think it was a monkey - not sure. Could've been Yogi. Regardless, I've got a smoking Yogi now.)
Another blast from the past Kid. I had the smoking monkey (from memory he was grey) but can't recall what they were for other than just being a novelty as a smoking monkey. Never seen a Yogi version only various coloured monkeys with or without a fez etc Do you remember those fortune telling fish?
ReplyDeleteSure do, McS, might still have one somewhere. Red cellophane that curled up with the heat from your hand, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteYou can still find the smoking monkey and fortune telling fish at the right stores ! Usually in curio stores in Chinatown. The fish is actually cellophane. I used to think it was reacting to heat but it’s actually moisture in your hand evaporating . I’ve never seen smoking Yogi before.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't moisture on your hand usually evaporate due to body heat though, PS? I'll have to track down a smoking monkey - I think the one I had was bigger than the Yogi one.
ReplyDeleteJust bought the monkey and the fish via ebay, PS. Different colour to the one I had, but a good price.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in my vast basement, I have a smoking skull toy from the 1950s, about a half inch tall, that I thought was a cracker jack premium, but i now think is a gumball toy. Cracker jack DID have a pipe as one of its rewards. And i remember the Flintstones selling ciggies during the commercials on their show back in the early sixties. And like all kids i LOVED candy cigarettes. Did you guys have those candies too?
ReplyDeleteWe used to have candy cigarettes, LM, but I don't think they're made anymore, to avoid influencing kids into thinking that smoking is okay. Don't want to teach them bad habits, eh?
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you can still buy cider-flavoured ice lollies. It's totally absurd that sweet cigarettes would encourage children to smoke but a cider ice lolly could make a child want to try real cider.
ReplyDeleteNot quite the same thing, CJ, although I'm not necessarily saying that eating sweet cigarettes would make one a smoker. I can see the thinking behind it though. Smoking used to be viewed as cool, elegant, and sophisticated until they were shown to be harmful, so it was considered a good thing to minimise the chance of giving kids the impression that smoking was a desirable pastime.
ReplyDeleteNow had cider-flavoured ice lollies actually been made from cider, then perhaps you'd have a point. Sure, sweet cigarettes didn't consist of tobacco, but taking up smoking was always more of an 'image' thing than a flavour thing. And you also have to remember that cider-flavoured ice lollies aren't aimed exclusively at kids.
They still technically sell candy cigarettes but they are now called candy sticks . Basically all they have done is take off the red marking at the end of the sweet that signified a lite cigarette. There used to be bubble-gum cigars and liquorice pipes (which I think are still sold). It’s fair to say that the concerns over candy cigars desensitizing kids to cigarette smoking was valid after all many US (maybe UK etc) tobacco companies allowed candy cigarette manufacturers to use their branding on their sweets. I forgot all about Cider ice lollies but I think they were more apple flavour - there was a cider soft drink that was less than 1% alcohol that kids used to be able to buy back in the early 70s.
ReplyDeleteYeah, renaming them is more sensible than not making them anymore, so I'm glad to hear they're still around. Have to say though, I don't think I've seen candy sticks in shops, but that could be 'cos I wasn't looking for them. Funnily enough, I had an apple juice drink the other day, and very tasty it was too. Ta, McS, for the info.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anything like this before!
ReplyDeleteAnother first for Crivens then, eh, MW? A great wee piece of Yogi merchandise.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I remember character-themed sweet cigarettes (Superman ones specifically, which was odd when he later did the Nick-o-teen campaign), rather than candy sticks, but nothing like this.
ReplyDeleteThe sweet cigarettes were quite widespread in their association with TV characters and shows. Fireball XL5, Stingray, Dr. Who, Daleks, etc., I think they were 'endorsed' by just about everyone who was anyone as far as kids were concerned.
ReplyDeleteSweet cigarettes never made ME want to smoke! My father smoked 20 a day and he always told me to stay away from cigarettes so I followed his advice.
ReplyDeleteThey never made me want to smoke either, CJ, but they came to be seen as part of a culture that presented smoking as 'cool', so they were rebranded (as McS pointed out) as candy sticks in order to avoid any 'glorification' of smoking - just in case. Better safe than sorry, eh?
ReplyDeleteI’m the same Colin/Kid sweet cigarettes never made me want to smoke either but seemingly there was a “famous” report done in the US that linked the sweets directly to children wanting to take up smoking. That and the fact that US cigarette companies allowed candy manufacturers to brand their sweets with their logos (Camel, Winston etc cigs) to me suggests they knew it would encourage smoking.
ReplyDeleteI think that because smoking was generally presented as a cool adult activity, some kids would've been encouraged to smoke even without sweet cigarettes being available, McS, but they were definitely one more influence on kids to take up the filthy habit. It was therefore a good idea not to call them 'cigarettes' anymore.
ReplyDeleteWatch this video which explains the fortune telling fish. https://youtu.be/U1py70uyGtA
ReplyDeleteThat was interesting, PS, but I didn't hear the guy say the water was evaporating, only that it was contact with water (or something wet) that caused the fish to curl. When mine arrives, I'm going to make sure my hands are completely dry and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteTry putting a polyethylene glove on so it gets heat but no moisture . I’m curious.
ReplyDeleteNow I’m wondering how those cigarettes work.
Yogi's cigarettes? You just put one in a hole in his mouth and light it up, PS. Yogi doesn't inhale of course.
ReplyDeletePS, my smoking monkey and fortune teller fish arrived today. I put the fish on top of a tartan travelling rug which adorns my settee and it curled up. It couldn't be due to moisture 'cos the rug is as dry as a badger's @rse. I think there must be more than just one thing that causes the fish to curl.
ReplyDelete