Woman Marries Blow-Up Bob

Remarries, to be exact. From Yahoo! News:

Sheila Smith's husband, Bob, had to go away on business and couldn't make the Valentine's Day recommitment service at Grove City United Methodist Church. So friends brought a life-size inflatable doll to serve as a stand-in. They dressed Blow-up Bob in dress pants, a shirt and tie, and taped on a head-shot photo of the real Bob Smith.

There's definitely an emerging trend of cardboard or inflatable spouses. Usually it involves military spouses who are stationed abroad.

For instance, back in Dec. 2005 I posted about the Husband Mannequin -- Suzy Walker's stand-in for her husband serving on the USS West Virginia.

Then in Sep. 2006 there was a story going around about Flat Daddys and Flat Mommys -- cardboard cutouts of deployed service members that the military was providing to families. (There are posts about it in both the main blog and the forum.)

I'd be curious to know how old this practice is. Did women back in World War II create husband mannequins?

Identity/Imposters Sex/Romance

Posted on Thu Feb 21, 2008


Comments

Usually it are men who are married to their blow up doll...
Posted by LaMa  on  Thu Feb 21, 2008  at  03:35 PM
uuuh he couldnt make his WEDDING due to being away on buisness??? that doesnt bode well for the marriage...
Posted by JoOdd  on  Thu Feb 21, 2008  at  04:37 PM
From the stories I've heard, it would appear that most women in World War II in Britain replaced their absent partners with the visiting G.I.s. My friends Gran said she had never had so much sex other than during the war, then it finished and the party was over.
Posted by mr royale  on  Fri Feb 22, 2008  at  03:17 AM
Uh, JoOdd, it was a recommittment ceremony not the wedding. The guy had already stood up and faced the music once, so this isn't QUITE as bad. I have read this story elsewhere and I think it mentioned that the business came up suddenly and was vital. But I could be mistaken there.

As far as the GIs in Britain I remember reading a complaint that was supposed to be going around the British armed forces then. They complained that the American GIs were "oversexed, overpaid and over here!"
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Fri Feb 22, 2008  at  10:57 AM
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