Travelodge - Sleepy, not Drinky.

Another item from the shipment from Alert Reader Mandy today. It's a postcard bought at TraveLodge, probably around the 1960 or so.

One might get the idea that, should you choose to spend a night at a TraveLodge, you could expect to have a seventy-foot bear shuffling around the parking lot, peering in your window, looking for a place to crash. But no, Sleepy bear was just the mascot of TraveLodge (which apparently still exists today). Judging by their graphic on the website, which also serves as a loose chronology of the character's design, this version of Drinky Stoney Sleepy The Bear dates from the early Sixties, or thereabouts. The design of the motel itself seems to agree with that estimate.

As it always seems to go with mascot "refreshes", every iteration of the character got weirder and uglier. Well done, Lowest Bidding Graphics Consulting Design Firm.

The Sleepy The Bear on the back of the postcard looks, as noted by Mandy, more zombie than sleepy. A free continental breakfast is available in the cafe from 6-10 am. A fine selection of breakfast items will be served, but the brains go fast, so come early!

Hmm. That bear looks familiar. Hang on a sec. Let me browbeat an intern into checking on it..... a HA!

http://phil-are-go.blogspot.com/2010/11/antiques-creepshow-figuratively-freaky.html

I knew it! We posted a photo of Semi-Concussed The Bear way back in 2010! Let's roll back the hands of time to artificially lengthen this post with minimal effort, shall we?

LOT #2 DRINKY BEAR
Our second feature is this delightful drunk teddy bear, ready to stagger into your heart and vomit down your aorta, mistaking it for a toilet. "Drinky Bear" was the mascot of a small chain of midwestern addiction centers in the sixties, and this example of Drinky is in fine condition, from his mismatched footpads to his baffling camel toe. Drinky's not dead yet! The "halo" is merely part of the art on the game box holding him up. If you bring home Drinky, you can pretend the price tag on his wrist is a medic alert bracelet, alerting would-be resuscitators of his allergy to Vivitrol. The only medicine he needs is your love! And bourbon!

According to Wikpedia, if your family chose to spring for the Sleepy bear Den, each child would get a free stuffed version of Novocaine Bear. That's one financially unsustainable premium! While the Sleepy bear Den feature of Travel Lodge (the budgetary savings from discontinuing the "free bear" campaign now being spent on a space in the logo between "Travel" and "Lodge") seems to be a thing of the past, the Sleepy Bear Dens seem to still be available at some franchises.

Know how you can still get yourself a Barbituate Bear? Right here, baby. He's a PNG with alpha channel, so you can put him on your own lampshades and bedspreads. Don't nod off yet, Hesher The Bear, you've got lots of work to do. Don't worry about using him, readers. He works for peanuts... or Methadone. You're welcome!