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 companys 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 companys 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 Americas 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 Ripleys 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 worlds largest hoopat 13 feet 4 inchesaround 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.
