Excellent things from my childhood: the Ed Grimley candle

Recently, I came across some items accumulated during my childhood that, until stumbling over them at my parents' house, I forgot existed. I scooped them up and brought them back to West Hartford. I figure I'll roll them out on the ol' blog now and then for nostalgia.

First up is the Ed Grimley candle:

"What's an Ed Grimley?" you ask. If you don't recall, Ed Grimley was (is?) a character created by Martin Short for SCTV and, later, Saturday Night Live. He was a nerd in love with pretty goofy stuff, from playing the triangle to adoring Pat Sajak, and he always wore his hair is a tall cowlick. His catch phrase was "I must say," which, along with "totally decent," he pretty much said in every sketch that he appeared. Because of his popularity on late night television (and the surge of Pee-Wee Herman, I'd guess), Ed got his own cartoon show in 1988 called The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. I think it only lasted a season.

Now that we're all on the same page about who exactly Ed Grimley is, you may wonder why anyone would make a candle in the likeness of this character. 

The answer comes in the form of a toy designer named Rod Guthrie. My father was friends with Rod, as they were both big model railroading buffs. Mr. Guthrie, in addition to designing scale models, also designed toys. And, during the height of Ed Grimley's popularity, one of the toys he was hired to design was the head for a talking Ed Grimley doll (he also did the Pee-Wee Herman doll, but that's for another time). After making the cast that was to be used for the doll, Rod thought it would be funny to fill it with wax and to make a candle, having the wick stretch from the tip of Ed's signature cowlick. He made a bunch of these, and handed them out to friends, one of which was my father. He gave it to me, and I've had it ever since. 

I've never had the nerve to light the wick, and I probably never will. I mean, how many people have one of these? Not that I'm going to make it the centerpiece of my dining room table, but it's kind of a cool little thing to have.

And, no, I'm not going to end this by saying "I must say." Give me a break, I'm not that corny.