Did the Snuggie Imitate the Slanket?
With four million sold since October, the Snuggie, a blanket with sleeves, has become one of the hottest products in the country. Many are familiar with the infomercial, as well as hundreds of parodies on YouTube. In fact, Jay Leno recently mocked the snuggie by saying “Why don’t you just put your robe on backwards?” Similarly, Ellen DeGeneres quipped “They should throw in a pointed hat so you can look like a wizard.” Yet, regardless of your feelings toward the Snuggie, it turns out that the Snuggie is actually an imitator of “The Slanket.” As reported by the New York Times, the Slanket predates the Snuggie by more than two years. Gary Clegg claims that he invented the idea in 1998 at the University of Maine. While living in a chilly dorm room, he cut a hole in his sleeping bag because his TV remote wouldn’t work through the fabric, and asked his mother to sew on sleeves. After several adjustments, he started giving the blankets to friends and family, and finally started selling them i
