"Monkey In A Teacup"

I remember about 30 years ago or so seeing ads for a "Monkey In A Teacup" on the back of comic books. It showed, from what I can recall, a very small monkey (smaller than a teacup) looking out from behind a teacup.

I never ordered one, but remembered watching Jay Leno one time, and he mentioned that he ordered and received one back in the day as a kid.
According to him, what he got was what looked like a little naked man, that was sweaty and stank. Almost instantly, he said his dog barked at the creature, and chased it out of the house, never to be seen again.

Does anyone know what these creatures are??

I've never ordered one of these things, but I do remember the ads. I doubt if Leno was serious about them being smelly and running out of his house.

[edit on 22/1/07 by masqua]

It was probably a member of the Marmoset family from South America. While they are now a protected species, I have seen Yanomami natives in the Amazon keep them as pets. They live in the forest canopy and eat mostly bugs, fruit, nuts, and leaves. Sadly, because of people keeping them as pets, and the former international market for them, as evidenced in those comic book adds, they are now endangered.

I remember seeing "Sea Monkeys" in the ads at the back of comic books in the 60's and 70's, but they were actually a form of shrimp. You put them in a fish bowl and watched them grow and swim around.
The ads made them look a lot more interesting than they really were.

You can Google them here:
images.google.ca...

This is the sort of ads they ran:




As far as real miniature monkeys go, I don't think they exist.

note how the ad says " new & live " , what sort of retard would by a pre owned dead monkey ?

I remember those things!

Poor little creatures. I always wanted one, but I'm glad I never got one.

recipe for mini monkey

dip in a light tempuru batter ... live trow in 250 degree celcius deep fryer
watch and lisen to the squirms of agony cook to a light golden brown and serve on a bay of fresh salad

there you have it mini primate salad tasty


eat similar to white bait

Originally posted by masqua
I've never ordered one of these things, but I do remember the ads. I doubt if Leno was serious about them being smelly and running out of his house.

[edit on 22/1/07 by masqua]

Well, I saw the Leno story, and while there were laughs, he swore up and down it was true. I could give you more of his story from my memory, but it wouldn't have the same effect. Of course, it was still funny the way he related the story.

The ads I remember didn't look like the one you posted; that looks older, maybe circa the 50's? The add I remember was totally cartoonish - there was a teacup, and, well, a little naked "man" or primate with a thin body, bulbous head, and oversized ears either peering over the side of the teacup, or from behind it. There were squiggly lines of surprise radiating off the head of the cartoon depiction of the creature, and there was a big question mark above it, if I recall (again, it was about 30 years ago).

The picture shown by anxietydisorder looks like it could be the animal...

That picture is of a baby Pygmy Marmoset. It is extreemly young, perhaps just days old.

awwww that little monkey is so cute, poor things

I always wanted a pet monkey as a kid... thought it would be so much cooler than a dog.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
what sort of retard would by a pre owned dead monkey ?

Certified pre-owned dead monkeys are the best kinds of monkeys. Someone else has already owned them, and not had problems with them. These dead monkeys are especially well adjusted to human households, and are much less troublesome than aptly named 'fresh' monkeys.

I remember them , wanted one then , and still would ove to get hold of one, legal or otherwise

[edit on 7-3-2008 by DwnitsDwn]

[edit on 7-3-2008 by DwnitsDwn)
for some reason unknown to me , I can not seem to edit the word love to begin with an l

[edit on 7-3-2008 by DwnitsDwn]

Originally posted by Nygdan

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
what sort of retard would by a pre owned dead monkey ?

Certified pre-owned dead monkeys are the best kinds of monkeys. Someone else has already owned them, and not had problems with them. These dead monkeys are especially well adjusted to human households, and are much less troublesome than aptly named 'fresh' monkeys.

If we had a comedy club this thread would be tops!

So funny.

That tiny monkey on the thumb is unbelievable!

So that's what they were! Never got one; never got the footlocker of tiny plastic soldiers, either. Bummer.
But my son spent his allowance and sent away for the sea monkeys. He was bummed that they didn't have crowns. We both laughed at the South Park sea monkey episode.

I remember a tea cup dog, too. What was that all about?

My husband sent away for the x-ray glasses when he was a kid, but he was bummed out that they wouldn't let him look through the pretty little neighborhood girl's dress.

Too bad the tiny turtles with their plastic world to live in, complete with island with green plastic palm tree, are no more to be bought. Bummer.

The same company had a choice of a miniature monkey or a miniature dog,. They were a photo refinishing co. in De Moines Iowa, and they still exist. Ths name is Dean Studios, both the monkeys , and the dogs were free, all one had to do was send in some of your photo refinishing work, to demonstrate your ability in the field.

My oldest son...now almost 15 got a sea monkey kit for Christmas one year when he was about 3 or 4 years old. They grew pretty good for a while...to the point you could see them swimming around in their little tank. They came with a food supply enough to last like 6 months or something. My son decided to feed them all the food at once....

Once the water cleared up from the cloud of food..the sea monkeys were no more LOL. I guess it was their final feast My son was so sad and horrified that he had killed them. Of course got over it quickly when he got a Chia Pet. Sometimes short attention spans are a good thing

I did find a few this about these monkeys though...

Monkeys and Dogs in Teacups

Michelle

[edit on 9-3-2008 by Michelle129]

Here is some additional information...
Dean Studios was the partnership of: Clark H. Geppert, Byron Geppert and Fidelis Geppert. On September 29, 1960 they were issued a Cease and Desist decission by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive promotional practices. Solving the 'simple' puzzle did not win one the little monkey or dog. The person also had sell their products to 20 other people first!
The ad is here: www.boingboing.net...
The court case is on Page 832, here: www.ftc.gov...(JULY-DECEMBER1960)PAGES747-853.pdf
File this along with "x-ray glasses", "stamps on approval" and "win this bike, kids".
wikibin.org...

If you met all of the requirements, you could have gotten the monkey, dunno about the dog. But the monkey was generally mishandled, misfed, and angry.

Here is the ad.

Doesn't look very believable to me IMHO.