"Products that solve problems are the ones that work best in SkyMall, " O'Donnell said.
Since Worsley's original plans for the catalog evolved, SkyMall is more successful than ever.
The same goes for comedian Dan Nainan, who took 84 flights in 2010 and purchases from SkyMall regularly.
There was a predecessor product called the Slanket that was sold through SkyMall and elsewhere, for instance.
The fun nature of the items featured in the catalog reflects the company's attitude, said Christine Aguilera, CEO of SkyMall.
Its deal with GoGo Inflight Internet allows passengers to browse SkyMall for free, escalating what is already a niche market.
"If you brought up SkyMall in conversation, it was the one product that someone would make a joke about, " he said.
"There's that time between when you can't use your laptop when you're taking off and landing, so that's prime SkyMall time, " Nainan said.
Barish's first experience with a SkyMall product was the SkyRest, a giant, wedge-shaped travel pillow that he reviewed for Gadling in 2008.
Attending Finovate Fall 2011 was like perusing a SkyMall catalog.
And instead of moving with urgency the Trojans dallied as the clock ticked, like browsing SkyMall magazine as a plane's oxygen masks drop from the ceiling.
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And while most travelers try to avoid the mysterious debris left by passengers past, SkyMall has been a welcome addition to the seatback catchalls since the 1990s.
When it began in 1990, founder Bob Worsley pictured SkyMall carrying mainstream products but quickly found that people were wary of buying everyday items at an airport.
For example, the best-selling items in SkyMall's history were a nose hair trimmer and a mosquito magnet (a net that attracts and traps insects), quantity-wise and dollar-wise, respectively.
The catalog's merchandising team receives hundreds of inquiries every week from vendors, manufacturers and retailers who want their items to be featured, said Joey O'Donnell, customer experience manager for SkyMall.
"SkyMall is perfect for things you don't necessarily need but would make great conversation pieces if you were willing to be silly and whimsical enough to actually buy them, " Barish said.
The merchandising team has been doing its job so well for so long that it can just look at an item and know it's going to be a winner with SkyMall's audience, O'Donnell said.
"I found that it was one of those things that anyone who had traveled in the United States kind of knew about, " said Mike Barish, a freelance travel writer who reviews SkyMall products for the travel site Gadling.
Many of us know The Sharper Image best as a purveyor of massaging lounge chairs (which makes their stores a must-stop location in the mall), a chronic pusher of ozone generators, and as a perennial favorite in SkyMall catalogs as we bide our time on the redeye.
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