“N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestlé’s makes the very bestCHAAAWWCLITT.” SNAP! If you’re near the half century mark, these immortal words of Farfel, Nestlé’s Irish setter puppet, will bring back memories. Every Saturday morning baby boomers, sitting in front of black & white TVs, heard Farfel sing the Quik commercial jingle with the help of ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson and dummy pal, Danny O’Day. My youngest brother was terrified of Farfel’s snapping jaw, so, of course, we’d turn the TV up just to hear him cry, much to my mother’s dismay.

The Beauty Queen, my Afghan hound, must know about my family history with Farfel because she uses his routine to get her own way. When she wants somethingdinner, a walk, a cookie, undivided attentionshe’ll do her demanding, low pitch grumble followed by Farfel’s trademark jaw SNAP. Her puppet ploy flashes me back in time since these two silly dogs have the same pointy profile. I’m laughing so hard at the Farfel impersonator that I give in to her whims. She’s got me obedience trained.

The origin of Farfel’s famous snap was an accident. Jimmy Nelson was nervously auditioning for the job so his hand inside of the Farfel puppet was sweaty. The Nestlé’s people gave him the jingle and asked him to improvise. He had the Danny dummy sing the beginning and She feels such movies have poisoned the minds of a younger generation against ventriloquism. Nelson donated a duplicate of the original Farfel along with an audio tape of the Quik jingle to the museum in 1982. Farfel enjoys his retirement in the company of many of his famous peers like Charlie McCarthy and Knucklehead Smiff. By the way, the politically

correct name for these puppets is “vents”, not dummies. Puppets have feelings too.

You can relive the Farfel magic of your youth by listening to Farfel’s ‘50s commercial at: www.venthavenmuseum.net, but please do not show this website to my brother. He’s still Farfelphobic. Meanwhile my Afghan continues to snap her jaw and perfect her Farfel imitation. She knows how to manipulate a real, live dummy that caters to her every wish. Oops, sorry. I meanShe knows how to manipulate a real, live vent.

The poster pets this week at Babylon