BOFFERS

 Here's a paragraph from Our Love Story:

       Finally Micki actually came into my apartment for the first time.  Suddenly things seemed awkward.  Micki seemed shy, and visiting wasn't as easy as it was outside.  She sat down on the couch, rather stiffly, and I wanted somehow to break this ice.  So I went into the bedroom and found my boffers.  Boffers were strong, foam swords with snazzy handles, and came with hand-guards, ear-protectors, and goggles.  I had bought them out of the Whole Earth Catalog, where the guy in the ad said, "I'd rather boff than eat."  There in the bedroom, while Micki now sat cross-legged out on the living room floor, I put on the goggles and ear-protectors, stuck the boffer handle into the hand-guard, raised the foam sword, then ran out of the bedroom and walloped Micki on the head.  She looked terribly insulted, wondering whether to be angry or cry, and I tossed the other boffer and accessories onto her lap.  She stared at her sudden armament, then at me, and her eyes lit up.  She put on the protectors, grabbed the boffer, stood up, and we had a major swordfight in the living room.  The ice was not only broken, it was shattered.

 

And here's a copy of the original Whole Earth Catalog ad: