Halloween is here: air-blown inflatable objects

Giant black cats. Jack-o’-lanterns in a pile. Striped spiders, ghosts, grim reapers, and even licensed characters like those from Star Wars, PeanutsAnd The Nightmare Before Christmas. You’ve almost certainly seen these inflatable decorative items, whether in someone’s backyard, in TV shows or movies, or just on the shelves of your local big box store. Maybe you’ve even purchased a few for your own collection.

Those distinctive inflatable decoration pieces you see everywhere are Airblown inflatables from Gemmy Industries. While many people read this name as “gimme”, the company name is pronounced like the first name “Jimmy”.

How do I know? Well, it turns out I worked for Gemmy Industries for almost 10 years as a senior editor back in the day. I wrote everything from the text on the outside of the box to the instruction manual – you name it, I made it. I was the writer and editor of thousands of SKUs for them each year, and even helped translate everything into French and Spanish for sales in Canada and Mexico.

With Halloween just a week away, let’s take a look, shall we?

So… What are they?

If you’ve ever seen a giant purple monkey sitting on top of a car dealership or a wild-armed figure on a street corner thrashing around while partially deflating and then inflating again, Airblowns are like the decorative version of that.

There is generally no internal structure to an Airblown. When you take it out of the box, it looks like an empty bag or a deflated balloon. However, when you plug it in, there is a fan inside that starts, so it automatically inflates in seconds. Yeah, that part in italics there? I can’t say you how many times I have written these words.

Then all you have to do is secure it so that wind and weather don’t blow it into a neighbor’s yard, and you’re ready to go. Whether it’s an Airblown that’s just a solo character or a character that inflates itself in an entire scene, it’s a pretty easy way to decorate for Halloween or any themed party. And when we’re done, it’s quite easy to bear since deflates for easy storage. (Another phrase I’ve used a lot.)

Most Airblowns light up in one form or another. Some have special lighting effects or spotlights built into them. For example, a few years ago there was an Airblown dragon that had a pattern of changing flames inside that looked like it was about to breathe fire. Pretty cool.

They come in all shapes and sizes, from 2-foot-tall static figures to giant animated displays. The ease with which you can install one and the variety of price ranges available are, I think, the main reasons for their mass appeal.

But that’s not all

Beyond those for your backyard, you’ll also find a huge range of Airblown inflatable Halloween costumes. If you’ve seen people run a marathon or attend events dressed as a T-Rex, a Thanksgiving turkey, or an Oogie Boogie, you can be sure that Gemmy nailed it.

Like their backyard cousins, Airblown costumes run the gamut from simple illusion costumes to elaborate illusion costumes to make it look like you’re being chased by a monster or riding a bull. Many of them are meant to be cute or funny, while some definitely are…hum…more adult in nature. Fun fact: Back in the day, Gemmy was creating new items for the back shelves of Spencer’s Gifts, and there are still a few holdovers from their product line.

Either way, if you walk into a Spirit Halloween store and see inflatable costumes on the shelves, it’s almost a guarantee that they’re from Gemmy.

They are everywhere

Although I have since left the company, there is no escaping Gemmy products, especially Airblowns. I’ve seen them in TV commercials, especially for Lowes, and even spotted them in episodes of Doctor Whomost often in their famous Christmas episodes.

In my travels, I have seen Airblowns sitting in the yards of multi-million dollar homes in gated communities, and I have also found them in isolated farmland communities in small town Oklahoma. Like I said, everywhere. (And as many as you’ll see around Halloween, wait until Christmas!)

When I meet one now, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride. It reminds me that I worked on something that people still enjoy today, something with the sole purpose of celebration and entertainment. I wish I had kept that part more firmly in mind when I was in the thick of it back then, but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes.

So if you’re out and about and see an Airblown inflatable in a yard or at a trick-or-treat, I hope you’ll think of me.

Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for reading!