Created by cartoonist Jim Davis, Garfield made his comic strip debut in newspapers across the U.S. in 1978. Initially running in only 40 papers (via the Independent) with the Chicago Sun-Times dropping the strip shortly after its launch, Garfield became a smash hit. The orange cat would feature in 850 newspapers by 1981 (via Comics Alliance). 

A virtual avalanche of merchandise was produced to capitalize on the feline’s success. Everything from books compiling the famous comic strip to stuffed animals and phones were manufactured; everyone and anyone was trying to get in on the Garfield juggernaut. Tyco Toys, in fact, created the first Garfield phone in 1978. A replica of the tubby tabby, the phone was a bastion of modern technology, complete with eyes that opened when the receiver was lifted off the unit (via Billie’s Phone Museum). While actual sales and production numbers aren’t available, the phones proved popular enough for Tyco to send multiple shipping containers of the famous feline to a hungry world.

It was the early ’80s, when locals and tourists of Brittany, France’s Iroise Sea began to take notice of the strange phenomenon of plastic, orange pieces washing ashore. Eventually, a theory came together: A shipping vessel containing Tyco’s Garfield phones went down in the treacherous waters. In doing so, its cargo was released into the ocean (via Engadget). Because of the rocky terrain that makes up the coast, there was no real way for anyone, the French government or otherwise, to verify any of the facts that surrounded the mystery shipping container(s). The only proof officials had of the situation was Garfield’s smirking countenance continually washing onto the beaches of the coast.