Jayne Mansfield Hot Water Bottle

The latest tacky treasure is a hot water bottle in the shape of the blond bombshell from the 1960s, Jayne Mansfield.  I was tipped off to its existence by Bob Smakula, who (like me) spends a lot of time at flea markets.  You never know what you might find, and this is certainly one of the more remarkable discoveries.

I went looking for one of my own on eBay, and eventually found a fine example with its original packaging.

In researching the water bottle, I found out way more than I needed to know about Jayne Mansfield.  There are only a few books on her life, probably because her contributions to American culture were pretty shallow, and like this hot water bottle, rather tacky.

Here’s an image from the collections of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress:  Jayne Mansfield, posed as motorcycle cop “Miss Traffic Stopper,” ticketing male driver.

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