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MakersWho Made That Whoopee Cushion?![]() Jens Mortensen for The New York Times; Prop stylist: Josephine Shokrian.
By HILARY GREENBAUM and DANA RUBINSTEINPublished: March 30, 2012
Some insist that the whoopee cushion originated in medieval courts where jesters turned pig bladders into flatulence simulators. It’s likely an apocryphal story, but “it stands to reason,” says Jim Dawson, the author of “Who Cut the Cheese.” The real story behind the prank’s rise to April Fools’ Day pre-eminence begins in another locus of bathroom humor: 1930s Canada. It was there that JEM, a Toronto rubber company, introduced a contraption known alternatively as the “poo-poo cushion” and the “boop-boop a doop,” until, in 1932, it settled on “whoopee.” A collector named Stan Timm owns an early model: it’s green, with a wooden mouth and a drawing of a gun-toting boy wearing a devious smile and a kilt.
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What’s So Funny About Whoopee Cushions An acoustic engineer explains.
Readers’ Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
The toy simulated its vulgar yet familiar noise when the air inside rushed out, forcing its flaps to slap shut and the valve to pulsate. It was a hit with adults and kids alike. In the 1942 movie “Road to Morocco,” Bob Hope and Bing Crosby slipped a jury-rigged whoopee cushion under a sheik, to great effect. By the 1950s, little boys were reading comic books full of ads for the adolescent-friendly gag. Over time, the whoopee cushion outlasted the banana peel and the hand buzzer. It has changed from green to pink (among other colors), become a bit smaller and traded its wooden mouth for a rubber one. Now they’re mostly made in China and face competition from newer, more versatile technologies, like the Fart Machine — which, with a remote control and 15 sounds, is exactly what it sounds like — and iFart, an app that once spent three weeks at the top of the iTunes App Store chart. Regardless, they work on the same principle. “Whoopee cushions are funny because they deflate people,” Dawson says. But the old-school appeal remains. “I think people will always seek authenticity, and the timbre of a rubber whoopee cushion sounds more genuine,” Kirk Demarais, a prank historian, says. Oriental Trading Company sells the 16-inch Jumbo Gas Blaster whoopee cushion, but the Traditional Classic remains the most popular. As the comedian Bob Saget says, “In these hard times that we’re going through, the public is better off with the classic.” ON THE WHOOPEE CUSHION IN CONTEMPORARY COMEDY: A Discussion With Bob Saget
![]() Illustration by Jacob Thomas
What is your relationship with the whoopee cushion? It’s frightening how much I know about this thing. I could literally talk for too long about it. When did you get your first one? I’ve had them since I was a young kid. My family always laughed at flatulence humor. My father thought anything uncontrollable was funny. How many have you gone through in your life? Ten! I still have things that you shake and make that sound. Why do you think it’s funny? The whoopee cushion, in many ways, is a release. It breaks the tone of seriousness. Have you ever used one professionally? I’m not a guy who wakes up in the morning saying, ‘‘I need to do gas humor.’’ I don’t do much of it in my stand-up, which can be irreverent. Any usage tips? You don’t want other people to blow it up. It’s a sanitary problem. Is it ever inappropriate? I can’t find a fart joke in a Woody Allen film. Nor do I want to. But I remember seeing some good gas humor in Fellini films. A whoopee cushion would have been great at the end of ‘‘The Artist.’’ Do you think the whoopee cushion is still relevant today? I do. I hope these never go away. I don’t think gag gifts ever will. Is it a good April Fools’ joke? It’s a lot nicer than other things people do.It’s much better than putting a foreign substance in someone’s drink.
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