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Harold von Braunhut, Seller of Sea Monkeys, Dies at 77
NY Times ^ | 12/21/03 | DOUGLAS MARTIN

Posted on 12/21/2003 10:51:42 PM PST by lowbridge

Harold von Braunhut, Seller of Sea Monkeys, Dies at 77 By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Harold von Braunhut, who used comic book advertisements to sell whimsical mail-order inventions like Amazing Sea Monkeys, tiny shrimp that pop to life when water is added, died on Nov. 28 at his home in Indian Head, Md. He was 77.

His wife, Yolanda, said that he died after a fall but that the exact cause was not known.

Mr. von Braunhut was to quirky inventions what Barnum was to circuses. His X-Ray Specs, which advertisements said allowed wearers to see through flesh and clothing, are still selling after 50 years of guffaws. Hermit crabs as a pet? Thank Mr. von Braunhut for Crazy Crabs.

And yes, perhaps only this verbally snappy holder of 195 patents could have realized that what the world needed was Amazing Hair-Raising Monsters, which allow a child to add water to a card and watch hair grow on the previously bald pate of the monster depicted there.

But Mr. von Braunhut's pièce de résistance was Sea Monkeys - which come from dried-up lake bottoms, not the sea, and are not monkeys but brine shrimp. His extravagant claims for the crustaceans - for example, that they come back from the dead and that they can be trained and hypnotized - are convincing because they are sort of true. (The shrimp do follow light.)

Billions of shrimp have been sold, not to mention a Sea Monkey aphrodisiac and a wrist watch filled with swimming shrimp. There are Web sites for sea monkey fans; CBS briefly had a Sea Monkeys series on Saturday mornings; 400 million of them went into space with John Glenn in 1998; and, for the lazy, a new Sea Monkey video game allows a player to "virtually" care for a shrimp colony, lest the animals "virtually" die.

Mr. von Braunhut gravitated toward life's crazier edge, racing motorcycles as the Green Hornet and managing the career of a man who dived from 40 feet into a kiddie pool filled with 12 inches of water. He sold invisible goldfish by guaranteeing that owners would never see them.

In a radically different sphere, Mr. von Braunhut's hard right-wing beliefs drew notice. According to a 1996 Anti-Defamation League report, he belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations.

The Washington Post in 1988 published an article on him and his affiliations, adding that his relatives said he was Jewish. He himself repeatedly refused to discuss his beliefs on race or his own religious background with journalists, and in an interview on Thursday his wife declined to comment on the subject.

Harold Nathan Braunhut was born in Memphis on March 31, 1926, and grew up in New York City, where he lived until the mid-1980's, when he moved to Maryland and set up a wildlife conservation area.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: haroldvonbraunhut; inventor; obituary; seamonkeys
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1 posted on 12/21/2003 10:51:43 PM PST by lowbridge
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To: Admin Moderator
needs excerpting
2 posted on 12/21/2003 10:53:15 PM PST by lowbridge ("Is it just me, or is Kwanzaa becoming way too commercialized?" -Ann Coulter)
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To: lowbridge
I bought some sea monkeys for my 3-year-old daughter back in 1980. They really did hatch into little brine shrimp, and she was quite amused by them until she accidentally spilled them on the carpet. They were too tiny to save.
3 posted on 12/21/2003 11:04:01 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (Chilling Effect-1, Global Warming-0)
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To: lowbridge
He sold invisible goldfish by guaranteeing that owners would never see them.

One of the world's great sales pitches.

4 posted on 12/21/2003 11:24:07 PM PST by per loin
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To: lowbridge
Has anyone tried dunking him in a vat of water to see what happens?

-PJ

5 posted on 12/21/2003 11:25:30 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (It's not safe yet to vote Democrat.)
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To: Political Junkie Too
Has anyone tried dunking him in a vat of water to see what happens?

Both my wife and I laughed pretty hard at that one.

6 posted on 12/21/2003 11:35:16 PM PST by Justice
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To: Justice
Man, I was one disappointed kid the day those X-Ray Specs. arrived.
7 posted on 12/21/2003 11:52:17 PM PST by Rodney Dangerfield
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To: lowbridge
He sold invisible goldfish by guaranteeing that owners would never see them.

He sold these to liberals?

8 posted on 12/21/2003 11:53:43 PM PST by GeronL (Saddam is out of the hole and into the quagmire!)
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To: lowbridge
After reading this obit, I think that someone should do a movie like "Ed Wood" on this guy. Call Johnny Depp!

9 posted on 12/22/2003 12:01:16 AM PST by My Dog Likes Me
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To: GeronL
SEA MONKEY WALL OF GRIEF

Absolutely the most important sea monkey link The backround may be a mess, someone needs to repost.

10 posted on 12/22/2003 12:07:17 AM PST by FastCoyote
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To: lowbridge; Lazamataz

Damn.........

11 posted on 12/22/2003 12:32:28 AM PST by Squantos (Support Mental Health !........or........ I'LL KILL YOU !!!!)
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To: Rodney Dangerfield
"Man, I was one disappointed kid the day those X-Ray Specs. arrived."

What was wrong with them?

12 posted on 12/22/2003 1:36:27 AM PST by Batrachian
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To: lowbridge
The sea monkey industry will never be the same.
13 posted on 12/22/2003 2:02:45 AM PST by exnavy
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To: lowbridge; Timesink
But Mr. von Braunhut's pièce de résistance was Sea Monkeys .... His extravagant claims ... are convincing because they are sort of true.

Like the NYT's reporting.

14 posted on 12/22/2003 2:11:46 AM PST by martin_fierro (Holder of an M.A. degree in The Obvious)
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To: Squantos
"look at me, I'm living free, free and clean amoung the sea people!"

"They never complain, they don't call me fat, never make me do homework or nothing like that!"

15 posted on 12/22/2003 3:40:54 AM PST by KantianBurke (Don't Tread on Me)
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To: Rodney Dangerfield
Man, I was one disappointed kid the day those X-Ray Specs. arrived.

LOL! No kidding. That and the money trick (put $1 through the rollers, out comes $20).

16 posted on 12/22/2003 3:50:34 AM PST by New Horizon
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To: lowbridge
I always wanted some Sea Monkeys. My mother wouldnt ever let me have them, said they were just brine shimp. I didnt care what kind of shrimp they were, they were Sea Monkeys and I wanted them!
17 posted on 12/22/2003 5:03:05 AM PST by EuroFrog (A chicken by any other name still tastes like chicken.)
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To: New Horizon
"LOL! No kidding. That and the money trick (put $1 through the rollers, out comes $20)."

A friend of mine claimed he could make zillions with his new invention ...
Powdered Water!

He just couldn't figure out what to mix it with.

Merry Christmas to all.

Please correct those that wish you a happy holiday.

18 posted on 12/22/2003 5:04:54 AM PST by knarf (A place where anyone can learn anything ... especially that which promotes clear thinking.)
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To: lowbridge
Sea-Monkey Holiday Sing-Along has "a few hints to help your Sea Monkeys both survive and enjoy the holiday season"
19 posted on 12/22/2003 5:13:13 AM PST by P.O.E.
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To: lowbridge
The NASA version:


20 posted on 12/22/2003 5:35:47 AM PST by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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