Whoopee cushion

A whoopee cushion, also known as a Razzberry Cushion, is a practical joke device, used in a form of flatulence humour. It produces a noise resembling a "raspberry" or human farting. It is also called a farting bag. It is made from two sheets of rubber that are glued together at the edges. There is a small opening with a flap at one end for air to enter and leave the cushion. It is used by first inflating with air, then place it under a chair cushion for an unsuspecting victim to sit on. It is intended to embarrass the person. The Roman Empress Elagabalus was known to use an early version of a whoopee cushions at dinner parties.[1] It is very similar to a pig-bladder used by court Jesters in the middle ages. It would produce the same results.[2] The modern version was re-invented in the 1920s by the JEM Rubber Co. of Toronto, Canada. Employees were experimenting with scrap sheets of rubber to produce the gag item.[3]

A whoopee cushion awaiting a victim

References
  1. Warwick Ball, Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire (London; New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 412
  2. Jim Dawson, Did Somebody Step on a Duck?: A Natural History of the Fart (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2010), p. 17
  3. "Whoopee Cushion got first airing here". Toronto Star. March 31, 2008.
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