Redneck Tycoon: Jonah White, Maker of Billy Bob Teeth

Jonah White was at a college football game in 1994 when he saw the product that would make him a millionaire. There, in the stands, a Southern Illinois University dental student named Rich Bailey was hamming it up with a set of realistic-looking hillbilly teeth, fabricated in his school’s lab. The contraption, which slipped on like a mouth guard, made Bailey’s gums look disgustingly decayed, with several bicuspids barely holding on. White would eventually learn that making prank dentures was common among dental students. But at the time, as Bailey drew a small crowd, White recognized this as his opportunity. He persuaded the dentist-in-training to go into business making and selling silly, fake teeth for $20.

Twenty years and 15 million sets of teeth later, White is one of the most successful novelty-gift makers in America. (Bailey left the company on good terms in 1999 to practice actual dentistry.) White’s company, Billy Bob Products, makes more than 250 different gag gifts. There’s a series of baby pacifiers affixed with gross molars, tongues, and mustaches ($3.50 to $8) that sold 5 million units at mom-and-pop stores and chains such as Wal-Mart and a Russian-roulette-style revolver ($25) with a shot of alcohol in the loaded chamber that’s a best-seller at Spencer Gifts. White’s also got a growing catalog of private-label products—cheaper fake teeth, stunt glasses with noses, and so on—that he produces for national retailers such as Walgreen and Party City.