< When people do good (cont'd) | Main | Ten things more important than 9/11 >

Mr. Bubble Day

Posted at 12:40 PM on August 31, 2011 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Regional history

You know things are going great in North Dakota when the governor can proclaim it "Mr. Bubble Day" without fear of humiliation. That's the way that state rolls in a time when the economy is zipping along and the budget is balanced.

Yesterday, Gov. ~~Ed Schafer~~ Jack Dalrymple declared it so on Mr. Bubble's 50th anniversary. The product was manufactured by the Gold Seal Company.

"Mr. Bubble bombed. It tanked. It was a flop," the governor notes. "It didn't do well enough to even keep it on the shelves."

And how could it? It was expensive. Fifty-nine cents. So Harold Schafer -- did I mention he was the (former) governor's dad? -- dropped the price to a more affordable 39 cents and the product took off.

"Before he died, the last year sitting in Medora, he would sit out on our porch for hours with boxes of Mr. Bubble on the side of his rocker," his widow said. "He would call the kids in that walked by our house and say, 'C'mon kids' and 'Where are you from?' and all that. And then he would autograph a box of Mr. Bubble for every one of those kids."

Mister Bubble is now made by a Minnesota-based company, proof we can take a North Dakota company away from time to time.

Comments (4)

Is there any connection with the MN State Fair? I saw this a couple days ago

Posted by BenCh | August 31, 2011 1:10 PM

One correction: tbat's former Gov. Schafer, twice removed.

Posted by David | August 31, 2011 1:27 PM

It's shake n' bake daddy, and weeee helped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POI5aMgxYFk

Posted by Vivian | August 31, 2011 5:43 PM

Hosting a booth at the Minnesota State Fair last weekend was another part of the 50th Birthday celebration for the brand. As was holding the World's Largest Bubble Bath at the Water Park of America in June.

Posted by Jenna Thomas | September 1, 2011 1:14 PM