Sunday, January 18, 2009

Rattlesnake Eggs!

The classic gag, available for sale from Adams--an envelope of "rattle-snake eggs":

You wind up the washer on the rubber band (in this version, the wand that holds the rubber band even looks a little snake-like), carefully place into the envelope, and hand to someone to inspect. When the envelope is opened, the washer, powered by the rubber-band, spins against the paper, making a loud rattle that should scare the bejezus out of the victim.

This clip-art detail from the packaging provides a close approximation of the victim's reaction:

The one pictured here was purchased at Disneyland for only three bucks. Who says you can't find a cheap souvenir at Disneyland anymore?

And if you don't want to part with three bucks, you can make the gag yourself with a pair of paper clips and a rubber band. Here's the directions, courtesy of "Spooky Stuff" (1979, Shari Lewis), a children's book of Halloween party hints and tips.

The author is former TV-kids show host and Lamb Chop puppeteer Shari Lewis. Shari recommends inserting a rattler gag with each party invitation you send out. Nice. I'll be revisiting "Spooky Stuff" in later posts.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This shari lewis books was one of my favorite as a kid. I am looking for it at the library right now. I wonder if we could find it at Half Price...hmmm. THANKS :D

Unknown said...

I adore your blog. As a kid this was one of my favorite books. My favorite autumn/winter pass times was converting my basement into a haunted house.

Winged Serpent said...

the cover of this book really reminds me of this record by Kiss. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Rock_and_roll_over_cover.jpg I wonder if it was the same artist?