We met Stuf two years ago when they asked us to help them create a line of plush art toys for infants called Developmental Stuf. We took the fun-sounding bait (who wouldn’t, right!?) and when we saw what Stuf was all about, our jaws dropped.

It’s beautifully simple. Stuf art dolls come in only one shape and this shape comes in two sizes, 6 inch and 12 inches tall. But as simple and limited as this sounds, Stuf comes in as many themes as imagination permits. They launched their first three lines last August at the New York International Gift Fair: Bird Stuf, Developmental Stuf and Pirate Stuf.

Developmental Stuf is great for helping improve infants’ eyesight and the addition of bells and crinkly paper inside stimulate all the other senses, too. Bird Stuf are beautifully illustrated by Stuf Staf and backed by wonderful patterns. Pirate Stuf is a crew of absolutely huggable scalawags and have hilarious character traits written on the back. Curly Pete, for example, “knows where the treasure’s hid” while Pirate Sue is “nothin’ but trouble“!

Each line of Stuf also contributes to a thematically appropriate charity. Bird Stuf, for example, donates a portion of its profits to the American Bird Conservancy. Developmental Stuf helps PlanUSA rebuild Haiti’s educational system and Pirate Stuf donates to the children’s writing programs at 826 Valencia in San Francisco.

Right now you can find Stuf in NY MoMA, SF MoMA, The Walker Art Center and over at wrybaby.com. We love the folks that make up Stuf Staf and we hear they’re working on two new lines for this Summer. We can’t wait to see! If you want to be in the know when they launch new Stuf, why not Like them on the Facebooks?

The Pirate Stuf Family.

The Developmental Stuf Family.

The Bird Stuf Family.

And while you’re in iTunes, check out our own iPhone App, the Baby Wheel of Responsibility! Let FATE decide who’s changing diapers, handling late night feedings and apologizing to annoyed restaurant patrons. Only 99¢.

Put out in 1961 on Reprise Records, it’s a snapshot of what his show was like in the beginning, before all the ’60′s era celebs (Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., etc.) thought it fun publicity to be hit in the face with pie on his show. The LP is, basically, a show in itself with music. Soupy gets a call from a record label who wants him to record an album. He agrees to do it, but doesn’t have any songs, much less a singing voice. But his puppet gang (White Fang, Black Tooth, Hippie the Hippo, Pookie the Lion) all come to his rescue offering songs from their songwriting club. The songs are not only hilarious, but catchy as all get out and are stylistically outrageous. Ranging from Rock ‘n’ Roll to a Cha-Cha-Cha to a tender ballad about the love between a boy and his…dog. The album was a huge hit.

As a kid, as well as now, my favorite bits were the songs about Soupy himself and no song sums up what made me love him more than “Pie In The Face“. In 1985, Soupy said he’d probably be remembered for the pies, and he was okay with that. But while this song is about his signature pie-in-the-face-bit, it explains WHY he loved getting hit with pies. Simply because it made people laugh. That was hugely inspirational to me and eventually became the basis for my doing what I do now with Wry Baby. It really is the greatest feeling of all to make people laugh.

When I was in elementary school we had to perform skits for a senior center in Orange County, CA. Each kid had to do a short bit for a crowded audience. I chose to lip sync to Soupy’s “Pie In The Face” (complete with two back-up dancers) and in the end get smacked with two big whipped cream pies. We had never rehearsed with real pies, though. You’d really be surprised how far all that whipped cream goes once it hits your face. I have to admit there weren’t many laughs at the end of THAT performance, but I still chuckle out loud whenever I think about it. Thanks so much, Soupy!

Remarkably, you can get this release! On CD even! Rhino Records put out a two-record set of Soupy’s LPs, the Soupy Sales Show and Up In The Air, his second release. Click here to get to Rhino where you can even listen to snippets before you order. Only $19.98.