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Thursday, March 05, 2015

On This Day in 1963 the Hula Hoop Was Patented

On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company’s co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.

In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company’s name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America’s fascination with UFOs.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I could never do it well.

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to imagine the person who dreamed these things up... :-)

Anonymous said...


Uncle gave me one in 1957; still have it; lots of great memories.

Anonymous said...

And so began the down slide of this country! The hula hoop was the beginning of more public perversions to come. Now we have "hip hop' and other garbage tearing away the holy fabric of this once great nation!