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Rick Potter
10-26-2018, 3:44 AM
This is driving me nuts.

My young kids had an inflatable plastic punching bag that was shaped kind of like a seal. Weighted at the bottom, it popped back up after being punched. I think it was called a Shmoe, kind of like 'Joe Shmoe', but I am not sure.

It runs in my mind that there was a Shmoe character on the 'Lil Abner' comic strips that were in the newspapers at the time (late 60's), and the bag was styled after him (it?).

Anyone remember these, or am I off the rails, over the edge, or just plain senile?

I remember it being fun, but it has gone the way of the cap gun.
Jerome Stanek
10-26-2018, 5:45 AM
No your not yes the Shmoe was in Lil Abner and also they had a punching bag. One of my nephews had one
Frederick Skelly
10-26-2018, 6:22 AM
Is this what you are remembering guys? SHMOO LINK (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmoo)
Ted Calver
10-26-2018, 1:17 PM
Yup. I had one as a kid. It beat me up just like the other kids.:D
Frank Pratt
10-26-2018, 2:20 PM
Yes, it is Shmoo. We had a pink ceramic one when I was a kid that I liked. Fast forward about 50 years & my mom gave it to me, a couple of years before she passed. Ugliest thing you've ever seen, but I love it.
Roger Feeley
10-26-2018, 4:12 PM
You can't get Schmoo anymore that I saw.

but see link below. They plenty of boppy bags.

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Bozo-3-D-Bop-Bag/dp/B00067TAWG
Bryan Lisowski
10-26-2018, 5:02 PM
You can't get Schmoo anymore that I saw.

but see link below. They plenty of boppy bags.

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Bozo-3-D-Bop-Bag/dp/B00067TAWG

Somehow Schmoo must have been deemed really offensive in today's society, so they were forced to change it to boppy bag.
Rick Potter
10-27-2018, 1:00 AM
Thanks very much guys. Frederick nailed it. I had no idea what a cultural icon it was in the 40's. I first saw it in the 60's, and they must have been rerunning old comic strips, because that is where I first saw it.

In the 50's we had Sadie Hawkins high school dances, and my daughter says they still had them in the early 80's. This was also from the comic strip.

She also remembers the Shmoo bopper.
Arthur Fleming
10-27-2018, 7:01 PM
Kinda funny I saw this, today while watching a rerun of MASH, an episode about Schmoe from Lil Abner was on.
Mel Fulks
10-27-2018, 8:57 PM
Only fair to mention the "Nogoodniks" . They are the evil opposite of the Shmoos.