A Super Pickle Tickle

/ Diane Henders

Last week I asked if anybody else was harbouring unusual mementos in their home. My blogging buddy Carrie Rubin stepped up to the plate (pun intended) with her Super Pickle, and kindly offered to let me use him in a blog post:

Super Pickle in all his glory.

Super Pickle in all his glory.

That reminded me of yet another oddball item in my house: a leering wooden zucchini.

Quite a bit more disturbing than Super Pickle.

Quite a bit more disturbing than Super Pickle.

Needless to say, the comic possibilities were endless for a woman of my twisted imagination. So many phallic vegetables, so few words allotted to a single blog post…

I considered writing a flash-fiction zucchini-on-pickle romance. After all, Super Pickle wears his rainbow tights with such pride and panache. But he’s so innocently goofy and endearing, I couldn’t bring myself to roll out any hide-the-pickle jokes.

If I was only writing about my freaky double-jointed zucchini I’d go for it without hesitation, because let’s face it: that deranged smile that could mean anything from an invitation for acts better left undescribed to an offer of cake made with his own pulverised progeny. (Mmm, and now I’m hungry for zucchini cake.)

In any case, I’d never tweak a pickle without knowing its background, so more research was required. I vaguely remember Super Pickle from decades ago, but I guess I was living under a rock in the 70s and 80s because I had to go and look him up on the internet to see what he was all about.

I did that with much trepidation, cringing at the thought of finding photos that might defile my virginal eyeballs when I searched for “super pickle”. Much to my disappointment surprise, everything came up absolutely clean. Either somebody has sneakily installed a content filter on my computer, or Super Pickle is beyond reproach.

And he’s still popular. I even came across a fan forum where people described their attachments to Super Pickle and their ongoing search for Super Pickle toys: http://www.inthe80s.com/toys/superpickle.shtml. Carrie, there’s a retail opportunity for you!

Anyway, in the end I discovered that Super Pickle had his beginnings as the star of a 1972 children’s pop-up book so, considering his G-rated origins, any off-colour references on my part would be totally inappropriate. Which, by an amazing coincidence, is the title of my last blog compilation; but still. Out of respect for Super Pickle, I’m going to defy the almost-irresistible compulsion to make a crack about pop-up pickles.

Instead, I’ll leave you with a pickle-related joke:

Chatting over the fence with her neighbour one day, a woman remarks on the tomatoes in his garden. “They’re so ripe already,” she marvels. “How do you always get the first red tomatoes on the block?”

He leans closer to whisper, “I have a secret. Every night after everybody else is in bed I sneak out to the garden wearing a trench coat and nothing else. I flash the tomatoes and they blush red! You should try it with your garden.”

Inspired, the woman follows his advice. A week later they’re chatting over the fence again and her neighbour inquires, “So how are your tomatoes?”

“Well, they’re still nothing special. But you should see the size of the cucumbers!”

See you in the produce department! (I’ll be the one eyeing the cucumbers and snickering.)

25 thoughts on “A Super Pickle Tickle”

  2. Saw you over at Carrie’s and had to check out the Super Pickle story. Oh my! I’ll never look at vegetables the same way again! And it will be on YOU if I look like a crazy lady because I burst out laughing for no apparent reason in the produce section on a future grocery store visit!!

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    • Welcome – thanks for visiting! I’m glad you got a chuckle. And if this post results in a wave of people laughing uncontrollably in produce departments across the nation, I’ll cheerfully shoulder the responsibility. It’s always nice to know I’m reaching my full potential as a bad example! 😉

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  3. Pingback: Say It Ain’t So | The Write Transition

  4. This has been fun reading. More than twice already and the laughing has been much needed. I’ve had one experience with pickle humor in a public place that will stay with me forever. Standing in line at the grocery, young woman in front of me, young male clerk, they obviously knew each other from their conversation. She had several veggies, several cucumbers in the mix. He chuckles and says “you aren’t going to need that many are you?” She laughs and says “Of course not but you could seriously use one!” I was taking a drink of water from my sports bottle and started to laugh so hard I almost choked. They both looked at me and got so embarrassed they started to stammer and the clerk was trying to apologize. I was still laughing and choking and waved them off. I got my voice back and just said “don’t worry about it. I’m may be old but not out of touch.” Then we all looked at each other and started laughing again. I know the other customers thought we were all weird but it was a moment to be remembered.

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    • Oh, that’s hilarious! Good for you for letting the laugh out – opportunities like that are too good to pass up! And you gave those two a great story to tell for years to come, too. Years from now, they’ll glance at a cucumber and cut out laughing for no apparent reason. 🙂

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  7. Made me recall the old ‘Sanfrancisco’ stores that came round in the 80s. They sold a game called ‘Willie popup’, you do the math.

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  9. Ha, this is hilarious, Diane! Only you could keep a post dirty and clean at the same time. Well done!

    Who knew Super Pickle still had it going on? Thanks for researching him. It appears there is also a Super Peanut out there based on the picture I saw in your link. But unfortunately, I think your terrifying zucchini would make poor Super Pickle give up his cape for good. There’s no overcoming that thing…

    Thanks for the mention, and thanks for running with this post. I loved it!

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