Hitler and the Sea Monkeys. When Harold von Braunhut "discovered" a new species of brine shrimp, artemia nyos, he made millions marketing them as Sea Monkeys. Using profits from that and his other inventions (such as X-Ray Specs), von Braunhut funded anti-Semitic groups, including the Aryan Nations, despite being Jewish himself.
posted by jonp72 on Sep 25, 2006 - 55 comments

..but no more X-Ray Specs One of those other groups had a pointer to a review of old comic book advertisements; it made me a little nostalgic. I went out, bought a copy of 'Amazing Spider Man', two bucks worth of gum and candy, and went surfing for my old nemesis, 'The Johnson Smith Novelty Company'. I remember buying the x-ray specs (didn't work, but the girls didn't know that - just as much fun) and the six foot Frankenstein screen printed of a 6 foot plastic tablecloth... with two lil glow in the dark stickers to put on the eyes. Anybody else have memories of comic book purchases?
posted by resigned on May 19, 2001 - 2 comments