Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

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  • SusieDK
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2017
    • 201

    Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

    Hi,

    This is a somewhat unusual posting about our 'history'. First a little bit of my own 'history' though:

    As so many in this forum I had quite a tough time when I first discovered the sexual aspect of balloons. On one hand it was such an incredible pleasure that I could not help doing it. On the other hand though I was completely and also painfully aware that these feelings were not within what most people (including myself - at least at the time) considered normal - neither what sex nor balloons are concerned. I was often ashamed of myself and I also to some extend worried about being 'not all well in my head'.

    I searched various books about psychology, but all I ever found was a mentioning about some people being crazy about balloons (like them extremely much), but this was in a book with balloon games for kids, and it just said they didn't have to that fond of balloons to have fun with the games in the book. This was the only clue I got about somebody other than me being 'extra fond' of balloons. However nowhere the sexual aspect was mentioned.
    As time went by I got more and more convinced that I was alone in the world with my rather strange feelings about balloons.

    However one day I was searching the internet for a place to buy balloons, because our local party supply shop had closed down, and I stumbled upon Buster Bills site.

    I still remember the words on the entrance page: 'Bet you thought you were the only one!'. Trembling all over I entered the site and read each and every little bit of information there. I was no longer alone with my balloon 'thing' It is near to impossible to put into writing what huge relief I felt, but it is not needed either, as very many here has been through exactly the same process of finding out they weren't 'the only one'.

    Now to the the issue that made me write this posting:

    After having found Buster Bills site my balloon 'thing' suddenly had got a name: A 'Balloon Fetish'.

    This was a very important to me. I was't kind of crazy - I just had a balloon fetish, and more important so did many others - including Buster Bill himself. I just didn't know the word (term) for it, so I had to stumble across it on Buster Bills site. I know very many others have done exactly the same.

    If you search Google for 'Balloon Fetish' you get about 15.7 million hits, so it certainly is a - or has become - a quite widespread term, and it has even spread into business as well. It cannot wonder that an 'industry' with photos, videos and such has developed, and not that various 'selfmade' people offer treatment as for example hypnosis. However the term has also been recognized in more serious contexts as 'just' making money (I am aware that making money is regarded as the most serious context at all by some, - but not by me) like for instance psychological research and sexology. Today it would not be very hard to find a path to 'balloon fetish', - that's for sure. It took years for me though, and I somehow had (still have) the impression that at the time Buster Bills site was if not the only site then one of very few sites where 'Balloon Fetish' was described or even mentioned at the time, and as far as I know also the only place with a thorough description of the 'phenomonen.

    This made me wonder about something: I found the term Balloon Fetish on Buster Bills site, and so did many others, but where did Buster Bill find himself it? It must have come from somewhere of course. I never saw any mentioning of Balloon Fetish in books or anywhere else before finding it on Buster Bills site, so my best guess is that he came up with the term himself by combining the two well known words 'Balloon' and 'Fetish', but it might also be that I just didn't have success in searching for something about 'this with balloons' before the arrival of the internet.

    He will of course know himself, but I think he probably came up with the term, - maybe because he wanted to put a name on it.
    If this is the case he is even more of a pioneer than many people (including myself) has realized, and he deserves immense credit - as well as for all the other work with which he has contributed to lots and lots of looners all over the world.
    Some might find it pretty obvious to 'simply' put together the word 'balloon' and the word 'fetish', and with the great wisdom of hindsight it also seems like an obvious thing to do. However thinking a little carefully about things it becomes much less obvious:
    You need to get the thought that this with balloons has similarities with a fetish, and taken into account that fetishes were not so well known at the time - I myself had heard the word, but it never ever crossed my mind, that what I felt about balloons had anything to do with it - it was not by far as obvious as it seems today.

    I am quite curious about whether it was actually Buster Bill, who gave out 'thing' its name, or if he found it somewhere - and if so, where he stumbled across it.

    I would love to hear what others think about the issue - and of course also to know who 'gave us our common name' - or where it came from.

    Thank you for reading my somewhat unusual posting'

    Sincerely
    Susie
    Last edited by SusieDK; 04-07-2020, 06:26. Reason: Correcting spelling mistakes.
  • LondonLarry
    Could be a chat bot
    • Jul 2019
    • 514

    #2
    Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

    Not sure where the name came from. I remember my first insight was via Chipple's site and the thrill of seeing all the new content being delivered by Ballooncats, Mellyloon and Balloongirls/Frazierphoto. This was circa 1997/8 pre broadband when everyone was on dial up 56k. Early stuff took an age to download but was worth it. Nowadays it's any old random shit on C4S. Quantity over quality.

    I remember BusterBills site but for some reason thought it was a gay thing, and therefore never progressed with it (not saying it's bad but not MY thing).

    I found Chipple's site and progressed from there. The first Balloon film I bought was a VHS tape from Frazierphoto 'BareBalloonGirls 8'. My how things have changed.

    Comment

    • SusieDK
      Senior Member
      • Dec 2017
      • 201

      #3
      Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

      Originally posted by LondonLarry
      Not sure where the name came from. I remember my first insight was via Chipple's site and the thrill of seeing all the new content being delivered by Ballooncats, Mellyloon and Balloongirls/Frazierphoto. This was circa 1997/8 pre broadband when everyone was on dial up 56k. Early stuff took an age to download but was worth it. Nowadays it's any old random shit on C4S. Quantity over quality.

      I remember BusterBills site but for some reason thought it was a gay thing, and therefore never progressed with it (not saying it's bad but not MY thing).

      I found Chipple's site and progressed from there. The first Balloon film I bought was a VHS tape from Frazierphoto 'BareBalloonGirls 8'. My how things have changed.

      Hi,

      Thank you for your response. I found Chipples site shortly after I had discovered Buster Bills. As far as I remember there was simply a link to Chipples site.
      I think more about Chipples site as a ‘resource site’ and not so much as an ‘explanation site’ though. Maybe my reason for this simply was that I had already found the information when I came to Chipples. However this site was an absolute gold mine with lots and lots of cool stories and many great links. It also led me to the Channel #balloons on IRC, where I experienced my first chats with likeminded people.
      Buster Bills site lead me to the Buddylist, which also gave lots and lots of information and great opportunity to discuss balloons in a way that I just a few weeks earlier had only been able to fantasize about.

      As for the term ‘Balloon Fetish’ I don’t think it originated from Chipple, - it was much more thoroughly described at the balloonbuddies site (Buster Bills).

      As a side note I also had a dial-up connection, and I also remember it taking ages to just load a webpage (not to mention the cost), but To me it was definitely also worth it.

      I hope I have not derailed the thread, because I would very much like to know from where our ‘thing’ got its name.

      Thank you for reading my posting.

      Sincerely
      Susie

      Comment

      • LondonLarry
        Could be a chat bot
        • Jul 2019
        • 514

        #4
        Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

        Susie, if you are asking why it is called a 'balloon fetish'? - then I am not sure why you would ask that ??!!??

        Everything is a 'something' fetish. Shoe fetish, pedal pumping fetish, cleaning fetish etc. I have read many of your posts and although English is not your first language you obviously converse well in it. Therefore I don't understand your question?

        The object in question is a balloon, you have a fetish for it; hence ' Balloon Fetish'. If you were to ask me why we are known as 'Looners' then that is something different and I would summise that 'Loon' being short for balloon, and the additional -er/s on the end to signify somebody that has an interest in balloons.

        I apologise if I misunderstood your question Susie, it does however; seem self explanatory to me.

        Comment

        • SusieDK
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2017
          • 201

          #5
          Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

          Originally posted by LondonLarry
          it does however; seem self explanatory to me.
          It does for you when you say so of course, and I also agree that it does indeed seem so. However this is based on a premise that wasn't there at the time, namely the realization that this with balloons is actually a fetish.

          This is exactly what wasn't obvious to me - actually it didn't cross my mind at all, and I know many others who never thought of it either. Like me they just thought they were weird.

          Also you need to take into account that fetishes weren't by far as recognised earlier as they are now. Today it has become kind of trendy to have a fetish, and even to such a degree that many acts as if they have one. This makes it far more obvious to get the idea that 'this with balloons' is a fetish. Besides you just need to put the word balloon into google together with 'turn on', and the first result you get is 'Balloon Fetish'. It wasn't that easy some 20 years ago, - not to mention before the internet.

          Actually I tried to explain why coming up with 'Balloon Fetish' wasn't as obious as it seems in my initial posting, but obviously I didn't succeed......


          Sincerely
          Susie

          PS. The term 'Looner' isn't by far as groundbreaking btw - it is just a short (and easier) name for 'balloon fetishist'. Even I could have come up with that.
          Last edited by SusieDK; 04-07-2020, 06:27.

          Comment

          • LondonLarry
            Could be a chat bot
            • Jul 2019
            • 514

            #6
            Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

            As a child of the 70's, the word 'fetish' was used prolifically. I remember a popular ladies shoe shop near to me being called the 'Shoe Fetish', a cafe in town being named the 'Food Fetish' in big orange letters and naughty boys at school were jokingly known to have had a 'Detention Fetish'. It was just a fancy word for 'liking' something.

            Ergo, someone who likes balloons has a balloon fetish. A dictionary definition:

            An excessive and irrational devotion or commitment to a particular thing.

            HTH.

            Larry.
            Last edited by LondonLarry; 04-07-2020, 07:35.

            Comment

            • drumrd
              Member
              • Dec 2013
              • 54

              #7
              Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

              Great topic which I can relate to.

              Also for my the first introduction with the balloon fetish was with a 56k modem in the end of the nineties (born beginning of the eighties). But back then i didn't know the word fetish even. Also the balloonbuddies website and the chipple site were my first encounters. And also my world changed after the discovery. The chipple site was my navigator as teenager in the balloon fetish world, really liked also how many stories where uploaded there.

              So for my it was a same kind of discovery as Susie described. Before the discovery I dind't knew my interest could be labelled as a fetish. As a teenager i learned for the first time the word fetish actually.

              But back to the original question: Buster Bill should be able to give a more precise answer, he is on this forum. But i assume some balloon interested people, which already knew of the existence of (the word) fetish, combined these two words balloon and fetish.

              Maby it can be seen as the chicken/egg story. If you already knew what a fetish was, the combination of balloon +fetish is logical. But as you discover that your interest in balloons is a fetish, the world of fetishes opens up to you.

              Comment

              • LondonLarry
                Could be a chat bot
                • Jul 2019
                • 514

                #8
                Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                To me it's as plain as day and really self explanatory. It's like having a green car and someone saying "Why do you call it a green car?", err because it's a car and it's green.

                Why do we say balloon fetish? because it's a balloon and it's something you have a fetish about. Balloon + fetish = Balloon fetish.

                I couldn't hazzard a guess as to who first coined the phrase balloon fetish but they were mass produced in 1930 (invented way before that), so you can bet your bottom dollar someone in 1930 got excited by them. Spin the clock forward 3 score years and 10 and it was mainstream on the internet, there were probably balloon party's for like minded people in the 60's/70's if truth be told. The man with balloons, the film was from that era 1968. People would have reffered to that as a fetish film, way back then.
                Last edited by LondonLarry; 04-07-2020, 08:54. Reason: addition

                Comment

                • LoonerMyName
                  Member
                  • Sep 2018
                  • 79

                  #9
                  Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                  This was a very interesting thread, and being a younger looner, it is interesting to read how others came to know of this fetish. I think a better question for this topic would be: Who came up with the term "Looner"? That term is a lot less self-explanatory and I wonder if it originated from in the community or outside.

                  Comment

                  • Orzel
                    Member
                    • Nov 2015
                    • 89

                    #10
                    Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                    Originally posted by LondonLarry
                    To me it's as plain as day and really self explanatory. It's like having a green car and someone saying "Why do you call it a green car?", err because it's a car and it's green.

                    Why do we say balloon fetish? because it's a balloon and it's something you have a fetish about. Balloon + fetish = Balloon fetish.

                    Pretty much this, I never really had problems with understanding this. Always seemed quite simple to me.

                    Comment

                    • drifloony1
                      Junior Member
                      • Jun 2020
                      • 15

                      #11
                      Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                      I also wonder who came up with the term “looners” to replace the term “balloon fetishists”. I get the impression that not all fetishes have a nickname like this. It is not like foot fetishists are called “footers” (although maybe they do have a term. I’m not super familiar with all the specific fetish communities). I guess there is “furries” for “fursuit fetish” (sorry if I am calling them by the wrong names, not very familiar with this fetish either).

                      So yeah, who came up with the name looners ?

                      Edit: And I think not all “furries” have the fursuit fetish so maybe this was not the best example. Cannot think of any other examples though.
                      Last edited by drifloony1; 04-07-2020, 13:44. Reason: afterthought

                      Comment

                      • Asclepio
                        Senior Member
                        • Sep 2018
                        • 457

                        #12
                        Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                        Well, I think the term Balloon Fetish is not a creation of anyone in specific, i think it just comes naturally, like name any other kind of fetish.
                        The real interesting question is: Who created the word Looner for describe us? I can bet it was BusterBill, since he is the oldest pioneer in our fetish, but thats an interesting question for sure.
                        A looner looking for fun, against violence or people with hightened moral idealism…. I just care about loons, so don’t ruin the fun.

                        Comment

                        • frankfrank
                          Empathetic Harmonizer
                          • Feb 2018
                          • 262

                          #13
                          Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                          Originally posted by LondonLarry
                          fetish. A dictionary definition:

                          An excessive and irrational devotion or commitment to a particular thing.
                          Which appears to mean that a fetish isn't necessarily sexual or erotic. Does that mean that somebody who LOVES TO TRAVEL, has a travel fetish?

                          Better question is how fetish came to mean THIS definition, sexual or not. Isn't the original meaning a TANGIBLE thing - such as a ceremonial artifact...maybe like a voodoo doll, or a replica of Jesus, or a menorah? Often something used in a religious context of some kind?
                          People who don't know the difference between BURRO and BURROW, can't tell their ass from a hole in the ground.


                          There's been a lot of thefts of helium-filled balloons recently. More so than in the past, so they're going up. I think inflation is to blame.

                          "Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking." - The Scarecrow, WIZARD OF OZ, 1939

                          Comment

                          • Tookus
                            Member
                            • Nov 2019
                            • 80

                            #14
                            Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                            Who decides it's a "fetish"?
                            Who defines excessive or irrational, normal vs abnormal.?
                            Who creates these labels?
                            I think it's simply built into some of us, no more complicated than that. There are people of all walks of life who enjoy "objects" to a greater or lesser degree.

                            Comment

                            • BusterBill
                              Founder, Balloon Buddies
                              • Nov 2016
                              • 251

                              #15
                              Re: Who gave our balloon 'thing' its name?

                              Originally posted by LoonerMyName
                              This was a very interesting thread, and being a younger looner, it is interesting to read how others came to know of this fetish. I think a better question for this topic would be: Who came up with the term "Looner"? That term is a lot less self-explanatory and I wonder if it originated from in the community or outside.
                              .
                              As the founder of the Balloon Buddies, which was the first social forum in history where fellow balloon fetishists could actually communicate with each other, I observed firsthand the development of the vocabulary associated with our fetish. I can say with 99% certainty that the term "looner" was coined by our UK buddies simply because in England, balloons were often referred to by children as "loons". For example, "May I please have that red loon, mommy?". If you watch a few boring old UK movies from the post WW2 era you'll find the word "loon" used on a number of occasions as a shorthand for "balloon", mostly by children but also by adults. It was, for the UK folk, an obvious choice to call themselves "looners" since they already called balloons by the word "loons". Eventually the rest of the community picked up the nickname and it stuck.
                              .
                              Here's a footnote for the sake of historical accuracy. In the early days of the online Balloon Buddies forum (mid 1990's) there was actually a rather heated argument between those who used the term "looner" and those who objected to its use with great vehemence. I have no idea why people got so worked up over it, but the debate lasted for almost 6 months before finally fizzling out. I guess the objectors just ran out of energy, lost interest, or accepted the word. For what it's worth, all languages change every day in word meanings and in usage. People eventually accept the new word usages and move on.
                              .

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