Whoopee cushion

A whoopee cushion, also known as a fart cushion, oopsie cushion or whoopsie cushion, is a type of toy relying on flatulence humour. It produces a noise resembling someone farting. 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 cushion at dinner parties.Warwick Ball, Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire (London; New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 412 It is very similar to a pig-bladder used by court jesters in the Middle Ages. It would produce the same results.Jim Dawson, Did Somebody Step on a Duck?: A Natural History of the Fart (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2010), p. 17 The modern version was re-invented in the 1930s by the JEM Rubber Co. of Toronto, Canada. Employees were experimenting with scrap sheets of rubber to produce the gag item. 

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Category:Pranks