Flash forward several years to the awesome AttaBoy Vintage Shop & Swap event. I traded some of my trinkets for a store display card of some really cool "Smoking Monkey" toys.
I thought these were too darn cool to pass up and reeeeaally wanted to test them out but I could never bring myself to open them up and destroy the full card.
Now, double flash forward to last weekend, where I found the missing ingredient: a box of 50 year old "safety matches" that looked an awful lot like the tiny paper "cigarettes" that my plastic monkeys have.
Yup, these little guys! Now, add in the fact that when I was checking out at the sale, the guy running it noticed the old junk I was picking out and said jokingly, "You know you need these smoking monkey cigarettes"...to which I replied, totally seriously "What! I have smoking monkeys at home!" So yeah, I got the "cigarettes" and couldn't wait to try them out.
When I got home, it took a while to dawn on my that the orange ceramic monkeys were probably meant to be smoking monkeys too, so my friend Ray and I tested one of the 50 year old "cigarettes" and deemed them safe enough to stick in a monkeys mouth! So, without futher ado...I give you all...
SMOKING MONKEYS!
Look at all that smoke!
The "cigarettes" are some kind of plastic looking wick wrapped in paper. They burn kind of quickly and smoke the whole time. They actually look like the monkeys are puffing on them and producing smoke rings!
He looks so calm and relaxed now
Someone needs to ash!
Since it was hard to photograph the actual smoking effect, I took a quick video!
So, this may be the coolest most un-safe vintage toy I have ever seen! Not only does it allow children to play with matches, it is a choking hazard, smells toxic and to top it all off makes smoking look super fun!
Political correctness aside, I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to discover these! I just want to do it over and over again but I'll have to ration my "monkey smokes" until I can find some more online! Does anyone out there remember having these as a kid? I wish I did!
we sell these at the vintage toy store where i work :) i think we're out now though...
ReplyDeleteHahaha thats awesome!!
ReplyDeleteSo funny! Now I want bubble gum cigarettes....monkey see, monkey do!
ReplyDelete*lol* OMG! Those smoking monkeys are amazing & quite awsome too.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you found them their ciggies.. they musta been going through serious withdrawls after all these years.
O' smoking monkeys
ReplyDeleteblow it out your pur-sed lips
Ur 2 cool 4 skool!
you should SO fix the laying down money a tiny cocktail and find a little chair to set him in!(there's a method to this madness) I bet if you did and tool a picture from behind he would look like a Monkey version of "Don Draper" from Mad Men! Amber those are SOOOO cool haha!
ReplyDeleteKool post. Is that monkey smoking a Camel?
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteMick, nice thought! It totally would look like Don Draper! Mad Monkeys!
ReplyDeleteHAHAA! Oh Amber, I loved the video especially.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! Too cool! I've never seen ceramic smoking monkeys! What a pair!
SO. COOL. Look how cool they look! Blase, French, totally smoking. Monkeys. I can't believe the divine vintage providence that reunited those monkeys to their smokes. Those guiys well deserve their place of honor!!
ReplyDeleteOMG SOMEONE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME FIND HOW TO BUY THESE, MY MOM HAS HAD A BLACK PAIR FOR 30 YEARS AND I WOULD LOVE TO GET HER SOME ANY TIPS ON WHERE I CAN FIND THESE OR WHAT WEBSITE???????? HELP THANKS
ReplyDeleteMELISSA
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DeleteHave u had luck finding any smoking monkies?? Please let me kno at kom816@gmail.com
DeleteI have one to sale.. The one sitting with his elbow on knee.. Contact me for phone number and pix
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SORRY AREA CODE 250
ReplyDeleteHoly Crap! I had these as a kid in the early 70s. I also had a really cool, smoking skeleton. I definitely wouldn't have passed these up either. What a great find.
ReplyDeleteOh my god...those are CRAZY but in a really good way. Consider me clued in. I have never seen these before.
ReplyDeleteI still have my smoking monkey (blue) with two cigs left. I am waiting for a concept to pop in my head and photograph the little guy.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, I also had them as a kid!
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of the same monkeys that my Grandmother made in a ceramics shop back in '79. I also have a set of figurines that have been in my family for at least 50 years that smoke the same cigarettes. Can't find the smokes anywhere though. Did find some of the plastic smoking monkeys with cigs on ebay, but they were too expensive for me.
ReplyDeleteWe have had one beside the computer for a long time. It is painted brown, black and white with pink lips. A real cutie. I'm so glad to find the history of where this little guy came from.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had a pair of these Smoking Monkeys and they were a blue ceramic pair, one laying on his side while the other was sitting just like in the first picture. I think he got these from the Philippines from what I remember and that the cigarettes could be mail-ordered from there. I hope this help's anyone who is looking to update their pair of Smoking Monkeys.
ReplyDeleteYES! I have the cigaretes, but no monkeys anymore. grandma and mom used to make ceramics and I remember these. I have been looking for a mold for years...
ReplyDeleteI have real vintage smoking monkeys made of wood from japan! im lookng to sell..
ReplyDeleteMy figurines also have red gems for eyes and I also have the ciggs..
DeleteI have the 2 monkeys and about 10 cigs....need more cigs too....there has got to be a big stash somewhere.....The search is on.
ReplyDeleteI used Google search ...said find cigs for ceramic smoking monkeys...found a site that sells them...vintage ville...in japan
ReplyDeleteI have seen some just like these on Etsy, just different colors.
ReplyDeleteif anyone has a set for sale pls contact me
ReplyDeleteMy Mom made them in her ceramic shop, from the 60s on. She ,ay still have the mold. The first time I ever saw them was in her friend Glenda Harland's ceramic studio in the basement of her house in Pasco, Washington where I was born and grew up, and I never forgot them. When I saw a pair recently at a yard sale, I snatched them up, to show them to her. They are brown, bisque painted, inscribed by the maker on the bottom. I remembered always the little tiny cigarettes that came with them that we would light up and get a kick out of. I just sold one of them to an Oriental lady who came into my shop who just likes monkeys. I looked them up to see if I could find any and what people were buying them for and found this blog. Thanks for loving all the cool things I always loved, yes I lived and made monkeys like this to sell at my mom's shop back in the day. And yes, she used wild crystal glazes like that on them and other ceramics all the time. The brand name of the glazes were GARE.
ReplyDeleteI have a set but mine are brown, they belonged to my grandmother. She called them people watchers.
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