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Harold Von Braunhut, invented Sea Monkeys

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.

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 von Braunhut for Crazy Crabs.

But von Braunhut's piece de resistance 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.)

In a radically different sphere, 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 repeatedly refused to discuss his beliefs on race or his own religious background.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarep...nhutobit21.html

That guy was a marketing genius, what kid didn't want some Sea Monkey at one time? I never knew he was an extreme right winger. I thought the KKK didn't like Jewish people?

RIP

Wild.

Good story, no matter what the truth about the guy is.

I had no idea one dude was responsible for all of those products.What a marketing genus.

The X-Ray Glasses really do work though!!