When I was a child, my parents would not let me buy Sea Monkeys. I really wanted them! I was sucked in by the ads that were placed in the comic books we read back in the 60's. I was convinced that this is how they looked. ( see above image ) I fantasized about growing these tiny underwater people and how they would be my tiny pet-friends. My dad refused to let me waste my allowance on brine shrimp.
Almost 40 years later, I came across this blast through one of my wholesalers.
I once again felt the urge to own these mail order pets.
I asked my boys what they thought about Sea-Monkeys. In addition to the picture in the catalog, I showed them a few actual images from the web. "Ew!!! They look like mosquito larvae!" was the response.
Yet when the Sea Monkeys Magic Castle boxes arrived at my shop, the same kids that were repulsed, suddenly wanted to take a kit home. Even though my boys were aware that the images on the package, are not what "Sea Monkeys" actually look like when hatched, they still had to have them. This is the power of good (albeit misleading) packaging!
The Best Sea Monkey Story
A while back, I was at a gathering where somehow the subject of Sea Monkeys came up in a discussion of nostalgic toys. A gentleman in our group, also a child of the 60's , was lucky enough to have owned these sea creatures. That is until his sister's friend drank them!
Why would someone drink Sea Monkeys?
Apparently the teenage friend was drunk and mistook the glass container the Sea Monkeys were in for a glass of water. She vomited after she realized what she had done. She also was afraid that she might become pregnant from swallowing these tiny sea creatures.
What would these hybrid babies look like? How would she explain this to her parents??? Who would put their beloved pets in a glass of water?
This would never have happened if only he had owned the Sea Monkey Magic Castle!!!
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I wanted sea monkeys so bad when I was a kid!
ReplyDeleteLet's hear the rest of the story....what did the baby look like? Did her parents accept the little sea monkey grandchild? I'm on the edge of my chair!
ReplyDelete@Midcenturymadam I wish I knew the rest of the story. Lots of questions swirling around like: How is a teenager old enough to get drunk but not know about human reproduction?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure if she did get pregnant she would quit school & join the cast & crew of Sea World with her new family!
HA!! That's a funny story!! Pregnant! LOL!! My brother and I had these. I think I was about 3, and he was 11. I remember holding a Fat Albert comic book up with a Sea Monkey ad, and looking into the glass trying to see their little faces. I remember being disappointed because I couldn't see them.
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