While the concept of the whoopee cushion can be traced back to medieval times (when court jesters reportedly turned cow or pig bladders into flatulence stimulators), the modern-day version of this rubber trap has been around for over 90 years—but most people don’t know that it was invented in Toronto.
According to Heritage Toronto, the famous farting toy was invented by the JEM Rubber Company in a factory at Dundas Street West and Scarlett Road.
“JEM made rubber surgical supplies, air mattresses, and toys like jump ropes and bouncy balls. Around 1930, it proposed the “Whoopee” to American novelty catalogue Johnson Smith & Co. and by 1931 the toy was on sale for the first time as the “Whoopee Cushion,” Heritage Toronto said in an Instagram post last May, alongside a photo of an early JEM whoopee cushion made in the 1930s.
The original whoopee cushion was green and was created from two sheets of rubber stuck together. JEM sold a regular version for 25 cents and a deluxe model made with fabric for $1.25.
The toy was so successful it made about $500,000 in its first year (worth over $1.2 million today) and many rival companies copied the product. Popular imitations included the “Razz Cushion,” “Po-Pee Ball,” and the “Boop Boop A Doop.”
JEM made the original whoopee cushion until the 1940s before being bought over by the Dayton Rubber Manufacturing Co. in 1945. JEM moved in 1968 and apartments were soon built on the former factory site. Still, nearly a century after the whoopee cushion was conceived, many toy companies continue to make cushions similar to the original JEM design.
As reported by Cracked, in honour of this great Toronto success, Heritage Toronto teamed up with Monologue Slam Canada (Canada’s largest talent showcase) last year to celebrate this landmark invention by outfitting the location of the former JEM Rubber Company factory with a ‘Whoopee Cushion’ plaque.
The plaque was unveiled at the Whoopee Cushion Monologue Slam event at Buddies in Bad Times theatre and “will be installed publicly at a later date” near the former location of the JEM factory.
