“Hey Dad! I got a dollar! Can I borrow $19?”
It’s all in the advertising. Note that the $1 seahorses are not “Darling Pet Seahorses” (never mind that the ones in the picture are kinda dead and dessicated, and that just about anywhere in the world one can dig up sea shells hundreds of miles inland)…
But monkeys!
My dad knew that seahorses wouldn’t crap all over the house, wouldn’t get into the cupboard in the middle of the night to get at the strawberry preserves by dropping the jar on the tile floor, and wouldn’t attack your face when you looked them in the eye. Dad was wise beyond his years.
“So can I get the seahorses?”
“No.”
[Image from the back of a 1967 needlework and crafts magazine, shown here.]
Tacky Raccoons 
Brilliant! I always wanted a chimpanzee when I was a kid. Having both a seahorse and a monkey would be very cool. When the seahorse reached full size the monkey could race it against other seahorses! Bet on the filly. They’re the underdogs. (but horses)
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Excellent! Of course one must ask my you have a 1967 Needlework and Crafts magazine in the first place…
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I always wanted a “Chipmunk Monkey”. Those Squirrel Monkeys looked like too much trouble.
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S. Le– I didn’t need a chimpanzee. We had a neighborhood full of them.
VE– I hid it under my stack of Mad Magazines. I liked the models wearing the tight fitting needlework.
plane– I got a lead on a Thelonious Monkey if you’re interested.
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