Curious about towel animals

Does anyone know which cruise line started the towel animal tradition and when it started?

I don't know which one started it, but I do know they had them on the Carnival cruise I went on last October.

I don't know which one started it, but I do know they had them on the Carnival cruise I went on last October.

They have been around for a lot longer than that, but Carnival do lay claim to them - they certainly wrote the book: http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/AddToCart.aspx?pid=7F7

:)

My first cruise was on Carnival in 2001 and we had them but I think they had been around long before that.

Seen them back in 1989 on Carnival

I am vaguely remembering towel animals from a Carnival cruise I took in 1979...However, I must state that I was 10 at the time, and our cabin was an interior the size of Patty Hearst's closet.

And if not then, I clearly remember them on the Ocean Princess in 85.