Perhaps the most pointless, and most successful, of Poynter’s products was “the little black box”. There were various iterations, but essentially the user activates it by flipping a switch. A small hand then emerges to pull the switch back. That was all: the toy existed solely to turn itself off.
I can imagine myself pushing the bloody thing and watching the hand come out and push it back.
Gulp!!!!!
These are quite popular as a hobby project among “makers” these days. I’d rather know more about the Jayne Mansfield hot-water bottle, though…
From an obituary:
Then there was the famous Jayne Mansfield Hot Water Bottle, a nearly two-foot-tall hollow plastic figure of the blonde bombshell wearing a black bikini. In 1957, Poynter traveled to Mansfield’s home in L.A. where she modeled for the plaster mold. “I did it for a week,” he said. “I could have done it in two days, but why rush?”
That looked like a demonstration of Tory economic policies.
Reminds me of watching the Addams Family.