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N0KFQ > TODAY 05.03.12 20:12l 49 Lines 2130 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 18717_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Mar 5
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120305/1742Z 18717@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.49
Mar 5, 1963:
Hula-Hoop 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.
Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after
they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around
their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic
version of the hoop, dubbed "Hula" after the hip-gyrating
Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern
California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.
The enormous popularity of the Hula-Hoop was short-lived and
within a matter of months, the masses were on to the next big
thing. However, the Hula-Hoop never faded away completely and
still has its fans today. According to Ripley's Believe It or
Not, in April 2004, a performer at the Big Apple Circus in Boston
simultaneously spun 100 hoops around her body. Earlier that same
year, in January, according to the Guinness World Records, two
people in Tokyo, Japan, managed to spin the world's largest
hoop--at 13 feet, 4 inches--around their waists at least three
times each.
Following the Hula-Hoop, Wham-O continued to produce a steady
stream of wacky and beloved novelty items, including the
Superball, Water Wiggle, Silly String, Slip 'n' Slide and the
Hacky Sack.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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