OPINION: Somersaulting sea horses become lesson in fiscal responsibility

Dec. 31—They were exotic, intriguing and fascinating. "They" were sea horses — complete with their own sea horse "ranch."

I had to smile when perusing the old 1970 edition DC comic that featured the advertisement for the sea horses. Seeing the bad print job on the badly designed ad, I flashed back to childhood.

In those days, I didn't analyze typefaces and graphics. I simply read the words. and believed.

I believed the sea horses would amaze my family with their antics.

I believed the creatures would become my new favorite pet.

I believed they would live up to — and surpass — the expectations the ad writers had promoted.

But such is the naivety of youth.

----The bold cover of the comic lived up to its era. The dominate type — "Diana Prince as the New Wonder Woman in Earth-Quaker" — was intriguing to the novice comic book reader. The graphic, featuring a weeping Diana Prince clutching a body, was certainly dramatic by any standards. and the price, 15 cents, could not be beat.

I wasn't the buyer of comics in my family, but I read them. Actually, with a voracious appetite for the written word, I read everything. My brothers' old comic books just happened to be handy.

The ads in the comics interested me as much as the story plot. And, at a very young age, I believed that if something appeared in print it had to be true. Thus I was taken in by many an ad for toy "Roman soldiers" (132 pieces for only $1.98!) and great money and prizes obtained by selling "American Seeds."

I touted the integrity of these popular publications: "If you read it in a comic, it has to be true," I wailed, attempting to convince my parents to let me earn a transistor radio, microscope or sport bike by selling seeds.

They didn't bite. and I couldn't believe their stubborn behavior in denying me these wondrous prizes.

----The sea horses did not require a knack for sales. It was a straight purchase — but one that appeared to be the deal of the day.

"Adults and children alike gasp and laugh with delight when they see these wonderful and unusual pets from the sea," the ad read. "These curious creatures with heads like little horses, are unlike any fish. They swim and move through the water without any apparent effort ... When you look at them, they look back at you. They sail around, they feed themselves, they turn summersaults and 'stand on their heads.' "

Sea horse gymnasts! How could my parents refuse?

Not only were the sea horses a great buy, they came with a package. For $2.98 (plus a 25-cent shipping charge) the buyer would receive two "live, healthy sea horses," a sturdy, shatterproof aquarium, sea horse ranch trees, sea horse food and a sea horse book.

This was better than any goldfish offer at a county fair. It even surpassed the parakeet offerings at Murphy's in the Green Valley Plaza. These were bona fide pets, complete with habitat, for less than $3 (not counting shipping and handling).

How could my parents be so crazy to pass on such a deal?

----But crazy they were — at least that's how it seemed in those days. No matter how hard I tried to convince them the sea horses would be a "great new interesting and educational hobby," as cited in the ad, they refused to budge.

They reminded me of the plethora of pets we already owned: Our dogs Smoky and Collie (a German shepherd and — surprise, surprise — collie), several cats, a duck and my pet hamster, Fudge. And, they asked, what about my previous declarations that I wanted nothing more in life than a pony.

Of course I wanted a pony, I avowed, attempting to explain that the sea horses were simply an interim equine-themed pet until I received my dream horse.

The sea horses never materialized. Perhaps because my sister already owned a full-fledged aquarium with an array of fish — or because my parents wanted me to learn advertisements that sound too good to be true usually are.

----Flash forward to our modern era. In recent years, intriguing television commercials have left me desiring a TopsyTurvy, a planter that would grow a lush harvest of tomatoes "upside-down," a Ronco 25-piece knife set (never mind that I rarely cook) and a set of newfangled coat hangers that would "increase my closet space — instantly!"

Yet despite how fantastic these products seemed to be, I couldn't get the sea horses from yesteryear out of my mind.

By denying me a simple and inexpensive purchase of "exciting, interesting pets," my parents taught me to think before believing wondrous claims.

Yes, I wanted the sea horses. But in the grand scheme of priorities, the so-called exotic fish were far below real horses, dogs and cats, and the odd assortment of hamsters and birds. And, my parents knew, the lure of the sea horses would dim by the time I began reading my next comic.

But the lesson of these much-touted "fascinating" sea creatures lingers to this day. It's a lesson of wants versus needs. One of necessities versus eye candy.

To this day, I wonder if the sea horses really did perform "summersaults" for their owners. The truth is I'll probably never know, but the reality of a hard-earned financial lesson is one that continues to linger.

Samantha Perry is editor of the Daily Telegraph. Contact her at sperry@bdtonline.com. Follow her @BDTPerry

— Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com.