7.30.2007

Another Thing You Never Knew Existed: Bobby's Blog!

When Dad bought this company, I started working here after school as soon as I was old enough to peel the dimes off of order forms. Back then our catalog was called simply “Johnson Smith Catalog” and our most popular item was the Whoopee Cushion. Today, we fill four catalogs with the cool stuff we find and I find myself in front of a computer - blogging.

I used to love showing off the ads Dad was running in comic books to my friends. Those ads made
rubber chickens, X-ray specs and practical jokes like itching powder popular all over the country. And as Steven Thompson points out in his own blog, the personal telegraph, the adding machine and the pocket radio were way ahead of their time - even if they didn't always work as well as expected.

I remember walking through the warehouse just dying to see what incredible item was in the next bin. I played with the Ventrilo or the Speedy Mini “Steam” Boat endlessly, trying to unlock their secrets. That sense of anticipation and intrigue lives on in
Things You Never Knew Existed. Can you believe we still get surprised letters from kids when they discover they can't really see through clothing with their X-ray specs? People who say this generation is bored and cynical should spend some time reading my mail.

Sure, things have changed, but not all that much. Our novelties might cost more than a dime now, but many are still under a dollar. In a world where a cup of coffee takes the form of a half-caff-skinny-mocha-latte-venti-something-or-other and costs five bucks, I think that's pretty good.

We sell a lot more
Electronic Fart Machines than Whoopee Cushions these days, and even the Chicken has gone high-tech. While we still see the value of practical jokes and things that make you laugh until milk comes out of your nose, we also search the world so we can offer you the Things You Never Knew Existed at all, like the Brain Fogger and the Invisibility Book.

So check back here or subscribe to the blog to be among the first to hear Things You Never Knew about all these wild and wacky items, old and new.