I know I am dating myself, but there was a very popular TV show in the 1950s called the Paul Winchell Show. It featured Winchell and his two famous ventriloquist dummies, Jerry Mahoney and his buddy Knucklehead Smiff. The show was a sensation with young baby boomers. Everyone I knew loved the show and especially wise-cracking Jerry Mahoney. Knucklehead, by contrast, was likable but just plain dumb. 

In the movie A Christmas Story, young Ralphie yearns for a BB gun for Christmas. Not me, back in 1959, I wanted a Jerry Mahoney ventriloquist doll for Hanukkah. Were there even Knucklehead Smiffs out there back then? Who would want one? Like Ralphie, I got my wish.

I don’t have my old Jerry Mahoney ventriloquist doll anymore (yes, I had a doll) but I do have the photo of me holding the Mahoney doll and the memories of practicing talking without moving my lips. Knucklehead Smiff to me has been long forgotten.

That all changed during the VP debate Tuesday night when Governor Tim Walz referred to himself as a “knucklehead.” Knucklehead Walz. It has a ring to it. I like it. But is Tim Walz just a dummy to be made fun of?  I’m not so sure. There’s a lot of knuckleheads out there and Walz may be trying to create a new voting bloc for Kamala. 

Image: Harold Witkov