...but can anyone tell me the history of the gag of blowing into one's thumb to inflate or grow?

I know many of the famous applications of it, from The Three Caballeros to Biker Mice From Mars. I find it hard-pressed to believe it is an uncommon trope, let alone one that only seems to be known within fetish circles.

While I'm at it, perhaps I could get more information on other "famous fetish follies", such as the conflation of growing with inflating (using inflation to grow proportionally larger rather than bloat out, or defeating a giant monster by bursting or deflating them), as well as the idea of living inflatables which I have studied and waxed poetic about several moons ago.