These GLOWORMS had a strange allure to me as a child. From the adverts to the dolls themselves. I never had one, but I had a friend who did and I was fascinated by it.
I loved all things that glowed in the dark – indeed, if I’d come across any radioactive material in my childhood it would have been curtains for me I’d have played it with so much (maybe I would have become an X-man)
The Glo Worm was basically a stuffed toy for young children, that had within it a battery powered device that when squeezed would light up the toy creating a soft glow. Also the skin would just glow in the dark if you held it up to a light for 30 seconds or so.
The toy was designed by Hasbro's Playskool division and introduced in 1982. It had a real cosy, fleecey, pajamaed worm body, and played a soothing lullaby.
Apparently, the toy, after it was released, was was such a success that Hasbro went “GLOWORM” crazy, and I remember them releasing a series of story books, night lights, videos and other merchandise all right up until the early 1990s. You could get a lot of different animals – a Glo Snugbug, Doodlebug, Bookbug, there were 12 of them in all. Though I think if you owned all of them you would have never slept because of all the extra light in your room at night!
However, disaster struck in the form of health and safety (probably quite properly so) In late 2005 the product was found to have a substance in it that could harm children. Its plastic head is softened with a chemical called phthalates, which can be dangerous if swallowed by children.
Do You Remember Glo Worms?
Do You Remember Glo Worms?