TWO NOVELTY FINDS: COLORED WATER & TOPSTONE FUN DISGUISE

FLEA MARKET FRIDAYS #84

Recently I picked up two fun novelty items at two different antique stores.

First up is a Colored Water joke novelty made by Fun Inc. Ooh, I would love to try this prank on the first lady of Neato Coolville! Look at that poor housewife on the package. She sure looks distraught at the sight of technicolor water gushing out of her faucet. The package says that you get six different colors. Hmm...I only count four different "pills" because there seems to be two reds and two blues besides an orange and a purple. Here's the description on the back - "Break color pill in half and insert it inside of spring. Compress the spring and insert in the mouth of the faucet with one end of the spring outside (that part of the spring which is outside should be in back of the faucet to keep out of sight.) Turn on the water for colored harmless liquid!"

You bet your life I was happy to find this second item! This Fun Disguise was made by the famous Topstone Rubber Company, the makers of the famous monster masks that were advertised in Famous Monsters magazine! Sure, it would have been great to sneak up on a Topstone monster mask, but as a  Groucho fan I was pleased as punch to find this for five bucks.

I wonder if anyone has put together a history of Groucho glasses? For decades, so many companies have made Groucho glasses and it would be fun to see all the different styles throughout the years.