The Promise: You'd be able to throw your voice across a room, into trunks and from behind doors. Plus, the helpful guide it came with would teach you how to be a ventriloquist, so you'd be auditioning for The Howdy Doody Show in no time.

The Truth: What you really got was a "swazzle," a flat, square metal object tied with a ribbon that you were liable to choke on the minute you put it into your mouth. Besides, a swazzle didn't exactly throw your voice, as much as it made you sound like the sped-up Donald Duck voice from the Punch and Judy shows. Oh well, at least you could still annoy your parents, even if they couldn't understand a word of what you were saying.