A novelty item or simply novelty is an object which is specifically designed to serve no practical purpose, and is sold for its uniqueness, humor, or simply as something new (hence "

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

", or newness). The term also applies to practical items with fanciful or nonfunctional additions, such as novelty

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

s, slippers, or

toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...

. The term is normally applied to small objects, and is generally not used to describe larger items such as

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than actually being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. ...

s. Items may have an

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

or promotional purpose, or be a

souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

Usage

This term covers a range of small manufactured goods, such as

collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

gadget A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as ''gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develop ...

s and

executive toy An office toy (also known as an executive toy or a desk toy) is a novelty item typically placed on the desk of a corporate executive or other office worker. They have no work-related function, but are often intended to provide decoration or ple ...

s. Novelty items are generally devices that do not primarily have a practical function.

Toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

s for adults are often classed as novelties. Some products have a brief period as a novelty item when they are actually new, only to become an established, commonly used product, such as the Hula Hoop or the

Frisbee A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection molded, injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreational ...

. Others may have an educational element, such as a Crookes radiometer,

Newton's cradle The Newton's cradle is a device that demonstrates the conservation of momentum and the conservation of energy with swinging spheres. When one sphere at the end is lifted and released, it strikes the stationary spheres, transmitting a force thro ...

, or drinking bird.

Sex toys A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibratin ...

are often described as novelty items (varying from this definition, as they do serve a practical purpose), and some products sold in sex shops may not have any practical sexual function, if operating primarily as a humorous gift, such as sex dice. Some food products may be considered novelty items, especially when first introduced, such as deep-fried Mars bars.

History

The

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

mathematician and astronomer Pierre Hérigone (1580–1643) describes a novelty item that was a

camera obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...

in the form of a goblet. Hérigone's device was constructed so that the user could spy on others while taking a drink. Its 45-degree mirror had a stylized opening for the lens and the lid bore a magnifying lens at the top.

Lenticular printing Lenticular printing is a technology in which lenticular lenses (a technology also used for 3D displays) are used to produce printed images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as they are viewed from different angles. E ...

was developed in the 1940s, and is used extensively in the production of novelty items.

Paper clothing Paper clothing describes garments and accessories made from paper or paper substitutes. The earliest known paper clothing was made by Japanese craftspeople in the 10th century BCE, usually from washi paper, and called ''kamiko''. ''Kamiko'' becam ...

, which has some practical purpose, was briefly novel in the United States in the 1960s. One of the more popular novelty items in recent history was the singing Big Mouth Billy Bass, manufactured by Gemmy Industries. It is estimated that over 20 million original pieces were sold in 12 months during 2000 and 2001. Novelty items based on mathematical objects, such as

Klein bottle In topology, a branch of mathematics, the Klein bottle () is an example of a non-orientable surface; it is a two-dimensional manifold against which a system for determining a normal vector cannot be consistently defined. Informally, it is a ...

s and

Penrose triangle The Penrose triangle, also known as the Penrose tribar, the impossible tribar, or the impossible triangle, is a triangular impossible object, an optical illusion consisting of an object which can be depicted in a perspective drawing, but cannot e ...

s, have been manufactured. Models of

Möbius strip In mathematics, a Möbius strip, Möbius band, or Möbius loop is a surface that can be formed by attaching the ends of a strip of paper together with a half-twist. As a mathematical object, it was discovered by Johann Benedict Listing and A ...

s are sometimes made in place of regular bands, such as rings.

List of novelty items

* Big Mouth Billy Bass *

Bobblehead A bobblehead, also known by common silly nicknames such as nodder, wobbler, or wacky wobbler, is a type of small collectible action figure. Its head is often oversized compared to its body. Instead of a solid connection, its head is connected to ...

Bubble pipe A bubble pipe is a toy shaped like a tobacco pipe, intended to be used for blowing soap bubbles. Design Bubble pipes are one of the original bubble toys, Most bubble pipes are made of plastic and therefore cannot be used for actual smoking ...

BunaB BunaB was the name of a line of purposely useless novelty item, novelty products, promoted as if they were useful via carefully written marketing hype. They were created by American radio host Al Crowder (1904-1981). Beginning in the 1950s BunaBs w ...

Chattering teeth Chattering teeth is a bodily function in animals that occurs primarily in response to cold; the jaw muscles begin to shiver leading teeth to crash together. It may also occur as a result of bruxism where emotional stress causes the jaw movements. C ...

* Cheesehead * Chinese finger trap * Crookes radiometer *

Deely bobber A deely bobber (also deeley bobber, or deeley bopper) is a novelty item of headgear comprising a headband to which are affixed two springy protrusions resembling the antennae of insects. These "antennae" may be topped with simple plastic shapes ...

* Drinking bird * Dehydrated water * Expandable water toy * Garden gnome * Groucho glasses *

Horse head mask The horse head mask is a latex mask representing a horse head originally manufactured by novelty purveyor Archie McPhee, and now widely available from other manufacturers. It covers the entire head and is typically part of a Halloween costume ...

* Joy buzzer * Kit-Cat Klock * Lava lamp * Magic 8-Ball *

Mexican jumping bean Mexican jumping beans (also known as ' in Spanish) are seed pods that have been inhabited by the larva of a small moth (''Cydia saltitans'') and are native to Mexico. The "bean" is usually tan to brown. They are from the shrub '' Sebastiania pa ...

* New Year's glasses *

* Novelty lighter * Pet Rock * Plasma globe * Plastic flamingo * Propeller beanie * Radio hat, while a practical item, was a novelty when it first appeared * Silly Putty * Slime * Slinky *

Snow globe A snow globe (also called a waterglobe, snowstorm, or snowdome) is a transparent sphere, traditionally made of glass, enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a town, neighborhood, landscape or figure. The sph ...

* Squirmle * Talking clock *

Toffee hammer A toffee hammer is a very small hammer designed for breaking up sheets or slabs of hard toffee, such as bonfire toffee, into small pieces suitable for consumption. A toffee hammer is sometimes included as a novelty item in gift packs produced by ...

Trammel of Archimedes A trammel of Archimedes is a mechanism that generates the shape of an ellipse. () It consists of two shuttles which are confined ("trammeled") to perpendicular channels or rails and a rod which is attached to the shuttles by pivots at fixed pos ...

* Umbrella hat * Useless machine *

Viking helmet Knowledge about military technology of the Viking Age (late 8th to mid-11th century Europe) is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and laws recorded in ...

s *

Whoopee cushion A whoopee (or whoopie) cushion is a practical joke device involving flatulence humour, which produces a noise resembling human flatulence. It has also been referred to as a farting bag, pooting cushion, windy blaster and Razzberry Cushion. Histo ...

* X-Ray specs

Usage

History

List of novelty items

See also

Further reading