GREENWOOD — Rick Whitney had a growing pile of small, triangular wood scraps in his shop that he wouldn’t part with because everything has a use.

He also had a soft spot for the gag gift.

His thinking went like this: Triangle. Wedge. Wedgie.

Epiphany.

The Official Maine Wedgie was born.

“I am the wedgie-maker,” Whitney said matter-of-factly, walking through Maine Line Products, which he co-owns with his wife, Ellen, inside a former grocery store on Route 26. The front half is retail; the back, a wood shop.

They debuted the product in rough packaging at a trade show last fall, looking for feedback. Gift shops all over the Northeast now stock the triangular wedge whose suggested uses include “prop something up.” Each block is hot-stamped with a logo, either Official Maine Wedgie or the non-regional-specific Official Wedgie.

All the better to broaden that wedgie appeal.

The Whitneys are hardly novelty newcomers. Eighteen years ago, the couple launched Moose Drop Earrings — actual clear-coated droppings — to a flurry of orders and press. They also stock in their retail shop a gag line of edible poo made by other companies: Maine Deer Poo (chocolate-covered peanuts) Maine Bear Poo (chocolate-covered malt balls) Moose Poop Dog Treats (oatmeal, peanut butter, molasses, no actual poo).

Their business dates to 1979. The top-selling product from 1980 to today, Whitney said, has been the Woodsman’s Weatherstick, a thin, Charlie Brown-looking branch that pokes up when good weather is coming and droops when rain’s on the way, sometimes hours in advance.

Repeat customers are common for the stick.

“They look at me, ‘You know, it really does work,’” he said. “They told me they were buying the first one slightly skeptical.”

The company also makes crates, boxes and displays. Whitney said he and Ellen come up with new products and get ideas from others, which was the case with Moose Drop Earrings. A friend of a friend made them but didn’t want to wade into marketing and sales. They gave more than 40 radio interviews after sending out a news release in December 1993.

The store hasn’t sold them for almost a decade and Maine Line is looking for a new supplier. It’s more time-intensive than one thinks, he said, to hike in after the raw material, bake and shellac it.

Raw material for the wedgie comes from up the road at Hancock Lumber. It retails for $3.95. The package reads: “With an Official Maine Wedgie you can prop something up. Hold open a door. Trace a triangle.”

“We’ve had reorders on them, so the stores are selling them,” Whitney said.

He declined to reveal sales numbers, but there are hundreds of Official Wedgies out there in the world.

Whitney said he sees people pick it up and chuckle, which was exactly what he was going for.

Weird, Wicked Weird is a monthly feature on the strange, intriguing and unexplained in Maine. Send ideas, photos and anything not poo to [email protected].