billr sends this in: “It obviously hinges on what a “Poke” is, and the only poke I know of is the Hawaiian street food.”
There’s this classic children’s book:
There’s also Gumby’s pal Pokey, but that’s probably not much help, either.
Speaking of Pokey, there’s this Bizarro from Sunday (LOL, not CIDU).
Comics I Don't Understand 
Not knowing what a ‘slowpoke’ is, indicates you might be one.
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Yeah, they’re just riffing on the word “slowpoke.”
“Slowpoke” uses “poke” in the nearly-obsolete sense of a sack (like the proverbial pig in a poke that you should not buy). A slowpoke was essentially a bag on a stick. You put the bag on an animal’s head to lead it around.
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Gumby and Pokey are made of clay. Wouldn’t they be more likely to harden in the sun, rather than melt?
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🎶”Poke Salad Annie,
The gators got your granny…”🎶
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Even without the “slow” prefix, poke remains a valid, if uncommon these days, way to describe slow, apparently aimless movement. My father, to this day, refers to a car/driver that is not going fast enough for his liking as a “poke johnny” when he is behind the wheel.
“Fastpoke” is a decent little oxymoron in that context.
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I know three definitions for ‘poke’: a bindle or a bag, in the verb phrase ‘poking along’, and ‘how ’bout a poke’ wherein the asker is asking for sex. Now I’m going to go look it up in the OED, so I can be even more knowitall.
‘
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Thanks so much, Brad Walker. Now I’m going to be singing it all day.
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Chak, you’ve never encountered “poke” meaning to touch something in a small area, like when you poke someone in the ribs or poke a dead cat with a stick? I feel like that’s by far the most common use.
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“Fastpoke” is not a word. Slowpoke Rodriguez’ cousin is not Fastpoke Gonzales, he’s Speedy Gonzales.
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Gumby and Pokey were made of child’s modeling clay, AKA plasticine. That doesn’t dry out and does get softer with heat.
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I recall hearing “cowpoke”, synonymous with cowboy or cowhand, in many a western film. That, along with “slowpoke”, suggests to me that once upon a time “poke” was used the same way as bloke, chap, fellow, guy, mate (some of these are particular to certain locales), and perhaps nowadays bro.
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