—“The Jumping Snakes of S.S. Adams” by Maurice Zolotow, from the June 1, 1946, issue of The Saturday Evening Post
The Joy Buzzer caught on in 1932 and sold like hot Joy Buzzers, although it was priced at one dollar, rather high for a jokers’ novelty. The Joy Buzzer is a round tin box which is secreted in the fingers of the joker’s hands. When he shakes hands with the victim, the infernal machine gives forth an ominous hum, and a sharp point is pressed into the dupe’s palm, giving him the illusion of an electric shock.
“When pressed on the back of somebody’s neck, it feels like a live wire, or you leave it on a seat, boy, do they jump!” states Mr. Adams scientifically. Oddly enough, when practical jokers worked the Buzzer, they found that instead of being punched in the nose, their victims would say, “Will you pull that gag on a friend of mine I’ll bring around tomorrow?” The Buzzer helped to pull the S.S. Adams Company through the Depression. Mr. Adams did not lay off a single hand or cut wages.
This article is featured in the May/June 2026 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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