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Troves & Tales

The world of the House Hippo

The curious origin story of a curious creature

I thrift and I am a Canadian, but those two things do not guarantee that I know everything about thrifting or Canada.

Take the house hippo.

I had zero idea this was a thing.

But once I found out it existed, I had to learn more.

If you aren’t familiar — please say I’m not the only one — a house hippo in thrifting circles is some kind of hippo (it could be ceramic, brass, stuffed) that you place in your house for good luck.

The idea here is that you should find your hippo, or rather the hippo should find you. Yes, you can head over to Etsy or some other online marketplace to buy one you like.

But the real fun is when you discover it unexpectedly. Maybe you spot it hidden on a shelf at your local thrift shop as you move through the rows of secondhand goods or among random other knickknacks at a garage sale or estate sale. Or just about anywhere out there in “the wild.”

Then you bring it home and place it somewhere, letting it stay there indefinitely, hoping it brings happiness and prosperity with it. This isn’t superstitious, just a whole lot of fun.

Adult version of Elf on the Shelf, maybe?

Head over to Facebook and search “house hippo” to find some groups devoted to this creature and to see people’s great finds.

So what’s this whole house hippo thing about?

I wanted to know where it came from. And that answer was unexpected.

1990s Canada.

In a television ad intended for children.

In 1999, the Concerned Children’s Advertisers (what became the now defunct Companies Committed to Kids) released a commercial aimed at kids that featured a fictional species of hippo found in Canada and some parts of the U.S.

The house hippo slept 16 hours a day and liked to eat raisins, chips and “crumbs from peanut butter on toast.” The goal was to teach kids to question what they saw in media and not always trust everything they were told.

Um, I’m a 90s Canadian kid who watched as much TV as any other kid.

I do not remember this commercial.

At all.

The advert titled “The Hidden World of the House Hippo” did win a Golden Marble Award for best public service advertising.

Yet lots of kids ended up believing what they saw in the ad. And some apparently still believe as adults.

Did the ad do its job? Not sure, but it did create a lasting legacy of hippo love.

In 2002, the U.K.’s Media Smart program released a version of the House Hippo as part of its campaign to teach children how to interpret advertising.

Then in 2019, the Canadian not-for-profit, MediaSmarts introduced House Hippo 2.0 — a more clearly fictional hippo revived to help combat fake news and focus on what kids see on the internet.

The original ad is reminiscent of another series of Canadian TV ads called Hinterland Who’s Who. Unlike the house hippo campaign, I remember these ads very well. They were factual PSAs about wildlife filmed in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but played into my childhood decades later. And it looks like they are still being made today.

Unlike the house hippo commercial, I remember these ads immediately. Thinking of them makes me get all “back in my day…” The quirky things a modern YouTube and streaming generation misses out on. They are unique to that time.

The house hippo lives on as the line between what is real and not real in our world gets more fuzzy all the time.

I am not sure how the house hippo went from a PSA for children to a fun thing for thrifters. I am guessing a vintage-loving Millennial with a sense of fun started it. I will keep poking around to find out because I really love the idea.

And in the meantime, I’m on the look out for my own house hippo. Or should I say, waiting for it to find me. Stay tuned…

Community Center

Should it stay or should it go?

Passionate debate leaves a house — and hippo — owner perplexed.

Earlier this year an “Ask a Canadian” Reddit community member posed the question:

Conversation online strongly suggests once you home the hippo, it stays with the house. So if you move, you don’t take it with you. You’d have to find a new one for the new house. Or you could hope your new house already has a house hippo of its own waiting to greet you.

In this particular Reddit thread, responders made clear:

“It’s a HOUSE hippo, not a YOU hippo”.

Believers in house hippos spin up curious tales of the lives they lead. Which is ironic, since it was created to raise media skepticism.

Their detailed stories “confirm” the hippo really does make things disappear. You should be wary of “an invasive species of condo hippo”, and know they might “leave an old abandoned house and head for new construction.” Those peanut butter toast crumbs? They tell you what the hippo was up to, and are also what the hippos guard your house against.

Whaaat??

What’s your take on the house hippo? Do you have one or something similar?

Share in the comments your opinion, your house traditions, or any other curious house tales you’ve come across!

Sanctuary

Your house-selling wingman

The tradition of burying St. Joseph runs deep.

I grew up Catholic in upstate New York. As people I knew — including my parents — took on the process of selling a house, a common remark seemed to arise as fast as the For-Sale sign: Bury St. Joseph in the back yard.

A quick online search will yield tons of pages that discuss a house-selling tradition that goes way back, with disputed origins.

How burying Joe got started

European nuns eager to expand their property in the mid 1500s AD get the most credit. Wishing to build more convents, they prayed to St. Joseph while burying medals of him in the ground. Answered prayers got the legendary “hack” to root, evolving over time to a statue instead of medals, and to aid sellers instead of buyers (though one could argue both win in fast sales).

Canadian realtor, Brian Madigan, found other possible beginnings in his research. German carpenters were known to pray over St. Joseph statues they buried in house foundations. In the late 1800s, Brother Andre Bessett used buried St. Joe medals and prayer, like the European nuns, to acquire land to build a chapel. Using plastic Josephs to expedite home sales got popular in the 1980s, accelerated by real estate agents in the ‘90s who gifted them to clients.

How to bury St. Joseph matters

And changes, depending on who you to talk to.

Various prayers suggest your St. Joseph statue should be buried upside down, “in a difficult position with (his) head in darkness and (he) will suffer as our Lord suffered, until this [house/property] is sold.”

Live in a condo? Bury him in a potted plant set by the door.

Strategies also include burying him in the front yard, near the For-Sale sign.

Or laying him flat in a cloth, facing the house.

Which way is his head supposed to go, again?

A seller who buried St. Joseph facing the road supposedly reported “the house across the street sold, and it hadn’t even been up for sale.”

Yikes.

Unlike the house hippo, who many believe should stay with the sold home, St. Joseph should move with you to your new residence, and be set in a place of honor. If he gets left behind, the new owners should raise him from the earth, clean him up, and also set him in a distinguished place.

Some people argue you shouldn’t bury him at all, citing the act as superstitious, not faithful. Father Donald Calloway in The Catholic Spirit suggests the original burying of the medals by the nuns was more appropriate. Because they represent a person, statues are to be revered above ground, not deep in it.

And when it comes to putting St. Joe in a stressful position, Calloway pleads that you don’t.

For Sale: your next St. Joseph

Despite the mixed opinions, realtor websites still promote the technique to bury St. Joseph, who’s often designated as the patron saint of real estate. Retailers and other e-commerce sites further make clear what a hot commodity ol’ St. Joe is.

Like st-josephstatue.com, where you can find everything you need to optimize St. Joe’s effectiveness. You can even buy a ready-to-go kit. Need it fast? Amazon can hook you up in a day. Or get this 1992 classic curbside from Ace Hardware.

I’ve never sold a house. But I did briefly consider recruiting St. Joseph’s “skills” to expedite the renting of my old home when it seemed like it was never going to get tenants. Call it superstition, luck, faith, or desperation, I wanted help!

Ultimately I didn’t bury Joe, but I do wonder if there could be such a borrowable-St.-Joseph market. Like the Little Free Library or the penny dish by the register. Perhaps there’s a take-a-joe, leave-a-joe box at the back of the church.

Share-able saints — the collectors’ item of tomorrow.

Playground

Quiz quarters: Can you find the fake?

Not all house hippos stole the peanut butter toast crumbs. Some preferred marbles.

Just last week we explored vintage board games. One such game still popular today was introduced in 1978 by Hasbro’s Milton Bradley: Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Two to four players feverishly try to get their plastic hippo to scarf up as many marbles as possible. World Records have been set for the fastest time. The game was even mentioned in a Simpsons episode.

Lesser known retro games have headlined a hippo. So we ask you:

Off Road

This week’s finds:

• As if on cue, Moo Deng arrived on the scene in time for this hippo-themed issue. The two-month old pygmy hippopotamus went viral this week and it is easy to see why.

  

  The pygmy hippo who took over the internet. So many memes!

• Is the housing crisis leading to house hippo extinction?? You may want to hide your hippo “from city, provincial, and federal officials at all costs!”

  

  Housing crisis affects all! [Photo: The Toronto Harold]

• Have you been invited to a “house blessing” party? Not sure what to wear or bring? Don’t know what to expect? Neither did this invitee in a 2009 discussion who got feedback on how to prepare.

  

  [Photo by Abstral Official]

It’s o-so-hip to be curious!