Reign of the Supermen #532: Super Puppet

Source: Superman vol.1 #109 (1956)
Type: Object/Hoax

One night, Clark and Lois are on a non-date at the Gay Metropolis Supper Club, watching a ventriloquist act when the dummy reveals himself as the Shrimp of Steel Wood, starts lifting (balloon) weights and flying around the room thanks to a (harmless I'm sure) helicopter blades in its back.

Clark enjoys the gentle ribbing his alter ego gets from these performers, until ye olde secrete identitie anxiety creeps up. If you're a superhero, you know what I'm talking about here. That feeling you get when a ventriloquist dummy announces it'll use its x-ray vision to look through your love interest's handbag just like you can, is correct about what it sees there, and crap, that thing can really see through things and you're wearing your super-suit under your clothes.

Also present at the Gay Metropolis Supper Club are (same sex couple) Barney Bates and Gabby Todd, criminals who also believe the act and want to steal the dummy so it can look through time-locked bank vaults. Clark of course notices and tries to prevent them from carrying out the theft, without faking another of those bouts of diarrhea that have made him seem completely undatable in Lois' eyes.

It's actually pretty clever - even more so for the fact they don't call attention to it in dialog - but Clark has to defeat these guys remotely, as if HE'S a sort of ventriloquist, manifesting his powers in a room where he isn't present. Eventually, Lois realizes her nose is shiny and goes to the powder room, so he finally turns into Superman and makes a citizens' arrest. As for the dummy, it didn't really have x-ray eyes. Cue Silver Age explanation:

There's a strange panel earlier on that looks like a weird artist's mistake - a waiter puts a platter on top of Lois' purse, squishing it. Well, that tray had an x-ray plate in it that could be brought back to the ventriloquist/magician before the show. Voila!