carcharias said:
Funny you mention that...I was at a kids B'day on Sunday and some dude got out the guitar and played a whole set of kids songs.
Then he announces a song for the grown ups and played "Puff the magic dragon"????
I nearly did a john Belushi with his guitar.
Got the name wrong anyways
I meant H.R.Pufnstuf
Fuggen great show
H.R. Pufnstuf
by Dana Larsen (27 May, 2003) Innocent childhood TV series revealed as pro-pot psychedelia!
Readers who were watching kids' TV during the early 1970's will remember a psychedelically strange show called H.R. Pufnstuf. Like many good things from that era, H.R. Pufnstuf was full of nods to the prevailing stoner counter-culture, and included many sly pot and drug references which most of us likely missed as children.
Launched in 1969, the Summer of Love, the show revolved around the adventures of Jimmy, a young boy trapped on the magical Living Island, where virtually every object, animal and plant can talk and move. In each of the 17 zany episodes, the evil Witchiepoo tries to steal Jimmy's talking golden flute, named Freddy, while Jimmy tries to escape the island and return home. Jimmy is protected and guided by the island's Mayor a friendly dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf and his many friends.
Aside from the extremely colorful and trippy imagery, there were many aspects to the popular show which, to the initiated, revealed its essentially stoney nature.
The main clue is the title character, H.R. Pufnstuf, whose last name sounds a lot like "Puffing stuff." The title "H.R." is never explained on the show, and many interpreted it as code for "Hand Rolled," with Pufnstuf's title of Mayor also being short for "marijuana." Pufnstuf is green with red hair, just like cannabis buds.
The theme song of the show gave another strong hint at stoner subtext, with the following chorus being repeated a few times, both at the beginning and end of the show. The last line seems out of context unless seen as a pot reference:
H.R. Pufnstuf, who's your friend when things get rough?
H.R. Pufnstuf, can't do a little, 'cause you can't do enough!
Although the marijuana and drug references are sometimes subtle, they are laced throughout the entire series. Some highlights include Witchiepoo offering a minion a "roach beef sandwich," Freddy the Flute getting turned into a magic mushroom, Pufnstuf telling Cling and Clang to "stop sniffing" the magic smoke, and Jimmy dosing Witchiepoo with a Love Potion.
When the Pufnstuf crew film a movie, Jimmy plays Black Bart a name also used at the time as a slang term for pot.
The evil Witchiepoo regularly uses drugs to mess with the good guys. In one episode she hits up the Pufnstuf gang with "laughing gas," a magic smoke pouring from her saxophone. She goes to each person and blasts them with smoke they burst into laughter, soon followed by a heavy sleep.
In other episodes Witchiepoo plies the good guys with spiked "Campfire Granny" chocolate treats, and uses "love gas" to win the island folk to her side.
McDonald`s eagerly exploited the Kroffts` creations
Puff and Stuff
For many stoners, "Puff and Stuff" is the perfect summation of their relationship with marijuana and food. So it's not surprising that the Krofft's creations were picked up by munchies salesmen pushing fast foodstuffs to hungry stoners.
Although the Kroffts created the enduring Kool-Aid pitcher, the most successful commercialization of their oeuvre was done by McDonald's, who based their characters of Mayor McCheese, Grimace, Hamburglar and others on Pufnstuf and his pals. Unfortunately, the McDonald's ad agency scammed the Kroffts, stealing their ideas and puppet technology without crediting them at all.
In 1971 the Kroffts sued McDonald's, and after six years of court battles, juries and appeal courts backed their claim. The Kroffts have received regular court-ordered royalty checks from the McDonald's empire ever since.
