Cap'n Wacky became a corporate mascot like few before - or since. From his popular comic books to the Saturday morning cartoon series of the sixties, and, of course, the 1976 feature film starring Charlton Heston, it seems there's nothing Cap'n Wacky can't do. A recent poll among school children showed 91% could identify Cap'n Wacky, while only 42% could identify the president of the United States, and a mere 1% could correctly identify Mickey Rooney.
Who doesn't remember the Cap'n Wacky hat craze of the 1950s? It seemed every boy in America was either wearing a Davey Crockett coonskin or the distinctive cap of the Cap'n. In the 60s, a wild batch of hippies grabbed headlines after they stole the Cap'n Wacky statue from outside of the Amalgamated Humor offices.
They toured with it all over the country and dressed it in silly costumes before finally being caught. Like with Woodstock, many more former hippies today claim they were involved than really were. If you ever meet someone who claimed they helped steal the Cap'n Wacky statue, you can be sure they are lying... Heinrich Flimminhoffer
(President of Amalamated Humor since the deaths of founders Sheky "Ralph" Brockie and Ichabod Lancaster White) made sure all the real thieves got the electric chair!
Cap'n Wacky's face has adorned a wide variety of products like t-shirts, lunch boxes, buttons, fishing lures, assault rifles, prosthetic limbs, weed wackers, automobile bras, and (of course) pinking shears. It seems hardly a household in America doesn't have something with the Cap'n's face on it.
The only people to ever complain about the character were S.C.A.W. (Sea Captains Against Wacky) who claimed Cap'n Wacky was a negative stereotype of their profession. Fortunately, those drunken blowhards couldn't stop smoking their pipes and cursing at their crews long enough to get very organized.
What is it about Cap'n Wacky that has struck such a chord with us all?
Is it the way he seems so free out there in the open air of the ocean? Is it the way defies authority and the conventions of polite society? Is it the way Amalgamated Humor spends millions on advertising so it seems nary a day goes by without Cap'n Wacky appearing before us on TV or in print or his voice (by voiceover legend Burl Rookscroft) shouting at us from the radio?
Who knows? The only thing that's clear is that Cap'n Wacky is here to stay.
As the Cap'n himself would say, "An if ye don' like it, thars the plank!"
From the book Corporate Mascots: From Cap'n Wacky to Wendy the Redheaded Hamburger Girl by Chick Ribbons.
Read about the Cap'n's 1967 Exploits!
In the 1950s, boys and girls (and sometimes even their pets!) loved their Official Cap'n Wacky Hats.
Amalgamated Humor Archives
Charlton Heston as the Cap'n in 1976
Amalgamated Humor Archives
A pencil drawing from the rejected proposal for Marvel Comics' Captain(sic) Wacky comic book, 1965.
Amalgamated Humor Archives
How the Cap'n appears in Japan, where he is known as The Happy, Smiling Sailior Individual Who Delights Children and Saves Pandas Though
He is Not a Robot.
Amalgamated Humor Archives
