Hula Hoop turns 50
One of my best blogger buddies sent me another item from the Seattle paper, and it sure brings back memories! The date was 1958, and a round piece of plastic called the "Hula Hoop" was all the rage! In the photo, two lingerie models are illustrating the use of the "new" toys at a show in Frankfurt, Germany.
I can't believe it's been 50 years since I first tried to get my hips to swivel inside that plastic ring! If I had kept it up all these years, I'd certainly be in better shape than I am now.
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Hula Hoop was invented and developed by entrepeneurs Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin. Knerr died earlier this year; Merlin, his boyhood friend, died in 2002. It seems that their invention was based on a similar toy that had been popular in Australia.
The two men started a company called Wham-O, which sold 100 million Hula Hoops the first year they were on the market. Even in the late fifties, the $1.98 suggested price was considered reasonable. There was reportedly a Hula Hoop for every two Americans in those simple years.
One thing I found funny was that the former Soviet Union banned the Hula Hoops, labeling them symbols of the "emptiness of American culture." Ha! Who's laughing now, Kruschev??
I'm not sure when the round piece of Americana went bust, but it very nearly took Wham-0 with it, before they came up with another perennial favorite - the Frisbee, the favorite toy of my border collie Sassy.
Wham-0 stopped manufacturing Hula Hoops (storing their enormous supply in a warehouse somewhere, I gather) until 1965, when the two developers came up with the idea to add ball bearings in the cylinder to make a "shooshing" sound! Haha! That's the one that I found down in the basement... (I'm sure I haven't had it since 1958!)
Wham-0 is also the marketer for the popular Slip 'N Slide, which absolutely beat the stuffing out of my kids when they were young!
There's something sweet and innocent about a toy which requires no batteries, has no mechanized voice blasting at you, no viewing screen - and has to employ a kid's hips, hands, feet, etc... In other words - a toy that has to be operated!
Lori Gregory, Knerr's daughter said, "My father always believed the more simple a toy was, the better it was. If he brought home a toy and we couldn't figure out how to play with it, he figured it wasn't any good."
Well, Happy 50th anniversary, Hula Hoop! I'm sure you'll be around several hundred more years with roller skates and Slinkies!
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How about it, twin? Do you remember the hula hoop?
As for that thing with the ball and jump rope, you must have been double-jointed to have operated such a thing!
Hey, I'll bring that old Hula Hoop over with me on the 4th, and we'll see if Kristin can do it! She should still be young enough to get some action on that device!
Mr. Corbin, weren't you telling me about a toy hoop that you used to play with as a kid? However, I believe you rolled it with a stick, didn't you?