Ben Martin/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images If subjects mastered the swing of it, they got to keep the toy. The original Hula-Hoop girl is sitting in a caf wearing a leopard-lined jacket, gold-painted nails, and Revlon lipstick in a shade called Orange Flip. Hula Hoop - History's Best Toys: All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys - TIME The companys name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on Americas fascination with UFOs. They showed little regret. For about a year in the 1950s, the company markets their sporting goods under the name WAMO. About 600,000 were made. Melin and Knerr showed entrepreneurial spirit early on. Wham-O's first incursion into the mainstream came in 1955, when it bought the idea for a plastic flying disk from a building inspector named Walter Frederick Morrison. "They were like John Wayne and Ernest Hemingway all rolled into one. Knerr spent his final hours in Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Calif., after suffering a stroke earlier in the day at his home. In 1982, Spud Melin and Knerr sold Wham-O to the Kransco Group for $12 million, but Spud Melin kept up his interest in gadgets - at one point, he patented a two By the summer of 1958, the Hula-Hoop, and its many imitators, took the nation by storm. But the imported fish produced no hatchable eggs. Arthur Kelso Spud Melin (1924-2002) - Find a Grave Memorial You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. In the toy business, we aspire to create fun for people. When Hasbro tried to buy Wham-O in 1982, Melin and Knerr were responsive. It was like a new medium, says Tim Walsh, a Wham-O historian and author of The Wham-O Super Book. Enter a date in the format M/D (e.g., 1/1), https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hula-hoop-patented, Marvin Miller elected first full-time MLB Players Association executive director, Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler hits #1 with Ballad of the Green Berets, Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson begins, Jim Morrison is charged with lewd behavior at a Miami concert. In 1955, the founders of the Wham-O toy company, Arthur Spud Melin and Richard Knerr, saw Morrisons flying disc. Melin and Knerr had run a used-car store together in downtown Los Angeles before founding Wham-O. based on information from your browser. Failed to delete memorial. Arthur Spud MelinAmerican Role Model | Marc Corsini Ten years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Millions of rings sat in piles like gargantuan wrist bracelets. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Anyone, anywhere, could submit an idea to them and potentially get a royalty deal. Today I Found Out We wanted it to be a sport.. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Share this memorial using social media sites or email. In the 1960s they produced a US$119 do-it-yourself bomb shelter cover. Wham-O rebounded a few years later with the unusual spring of the SuperBall, made of a compressed plastic known as Zectron. Ads claimed it could make bubbles "as long as a bus". Inventors of Your Favorite Products Didn't Always Get Rich A system error has occurred. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. We have set your language to By 1994, when Mattel purchased Wham-O, the San Gabriel factory was down to a skeleton crew keeping up production of only a handful of products. In 1957, they purchased the rights to Morrisons toy. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. COSTA MESA, Calif. Arthur "Spud" Melin, co-founder of the toy company that introduced the world to the Frisbee, Hula Hoop and other faddish gems of American But I said, 'You can't put that on television. In the summer of 1958, the craze hit the US, selling 40 million $1.98 hoops and producing $45 million in profits. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. [8] "Hula Hoop mania" continued through the end of 1959, and netted Wham-O $45million (equivalent to $418million in 2023[9]). The enterprise ended with the oysters being dumped into a nearby bay because they could not get the venture off the ground.Wham-O's first incursion into the mainstream came in 1955, when it bought the idea for a plastic flying disk from a building inspector named Walter Frederick Morrison. "[My mother] and Spud's wife would demonstrate hula hoops in parks and recreation centers around the country," Chuck says. Arthur Melin | | The Guardian READ MORE: The History of Must-Have Holiday Toys. In 1958, they renamed it the Frisbee, either because that was the phoneticisation of the trade name as heard by Knerr on a college tour, or after Mr Frisbie, a US comic strip. For years, college students, especially at Yale, had played a game of catch with pie tins (or in some versions of the story, lids of cookie jars) made by the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, Conn. Mr. Knerr said in an interview yesterday that the similarity of the name of Wham-O's disk to the name of the student game was a coincidence. Knerr and Melin left behind a considerable legacy in the toy world. The two stayed on as consultants for several years, but it wasnt the same. In a testament to his marketing aptitude, the stunt was picked up by local press. They were flat broke. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. The domestic size sold 20m. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. One bowling ball-sized promotional Super Ball wreaked havoc in an Australian hotel, putting a hole in the wall before accidentally falling out a window, bouncing 15 stories, and then crashing into asports carparked on the street below. Real devotees were dubbed Frisbyterians.. Hula Hoop patented - History Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Guest panelist John Payne identified the inventor and manufacture of the Hula Hoop. Their inspiration came from a slingshot they had made while hunting with falcons, which was used to shoot meat up to the birds. Changing the day will navigate the page to that given day in history. The domestic size sold 20 million. Wham-O also benefited from the relative economic sense of advertising nationally. Please try again later. With some of their biggest successes selling for under a dollar, no one was priced out of enjoying them. (The name had been used since the 18th century, but till then was not registered as a trademark.) When the two became interested in falconry in their early 20s, they crafted a slingshot to shoot food into the air to train their birds. Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee and began selling the rebranded toy in 1958. All rights reserved. Wham-O Bird Ornithopter (1959) sold in a large cardboard box, ready to fly. Year should not be greater than current year. Old ones were retired, for a few years or permanently, as their popularity waned. (It was later sold to Mattel, which then sold it to a group of investors.)Mr. Left strictly to their own sensibilities, items like the Bowmatic bow-making machine and the Super Foam Machine probably wouldn't have kept the lights on. It was inexplicable. The company's lines are also more complex, and grouped in related categoriesfor example, the Sea-Doo line (about a dozen products), several Slip 'N Slide variations, and a group of "lawn games". We strive for accuracy and fairness. Photo courtesy of Phil Kennedy. It became Wham-O's long, slow seller, with its own plant in San Gabriel, California, taking off in the 1960s as a counter-cultural exercise, the toy of hippies and of guys trying to impress their girls with Frisbee flips - "Flat flip flies straight. 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. Knerr, Walsh says, had sellers remorse right away. Increasingly, kids were turning less to outdoor play and more toward higher-priced electronic offerings, which meant bigger profit margins for companies. But knock-off artists had smelled opportunity. The kinetic energy in the material was substantial: it could bounce over a two-story home. Oops, something didn't work. Bubble Thing (1988), a flexible plastic strip attached to a wand, which was dipped in soap solution and waved through the air to create giant soap bubbles. But as quickly as it started, it was over. More importantly, they were actually having as much fun as people thought they were. The two never publicly commented on the injuries, but for a company that was built on levity, it had to be sobering. Mr. Melin was right, though. One of the best relationships on Merlin was between the series' eponymous protagonist and Camelot's king. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. She didn't know what she was going to do with it.. Headrick was in charge of sifting through ideas, of which one in a thousand might be viable enough to pursue. ), Congressional investigators blame airlines for most flight cancellations, Its kayak season. They knew if they spent the money, theyd see a return on their investment, Walsh says. They expanded their Wham-O company to the corner of a failed grocery store, then to a factory, and went into pellet guns, throwing knives and boomerangs. 0 cemeteries found in Corona del Mar, Orange County, California, USA. ''He said it would be huge. This browser does not support getting your location. Are you sure that you want to delete this flower? TheSlip N Slide, Hacky Sack, and several others were also third-party ideas. Hula Hoop promoter Arthur 'Spud' Melin dies - Deseret News Their first major development was a buy-in - the Frisbee. An estimated 25 million Hula Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone. While visiting that continent he saw a little fish that buried its eggs in mud during the dry season. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Rather, he said, the name came from a comic strip of the era called Mr. Frisbie.But the connection was not coincidental to the success of the Frisbee, which found its earliest acceptance at Eastern colleges. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. It gave us the opportunity to do it."[29]. They began demonstrating the toy in parks and on television, and the fad quickly went viral. Both the Hula Hoop and Instant Fish sprang from Melins interest in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, the public of all ages also adopted them, buying more than 100 million Frisbees in 30 years. ''. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. Greatest toy invention in years! ad copy blared. If they liked an idea, it could be implemented immediately. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. John Daly asked the gentleman if First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower, oversaw the interior decorating of They bought a saw at Sears, Roebuck & Company on a monthly payment plan, set it up in a garage and began making and selling slingshots. Arthur Spud Melin, co-founder of Wham-O Inc., which gave the world such leisure icons as the Frisbee, the Hula Hoop and the Superball--along with such duds as ", Ben Martin/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images. Youd never see a company making both toys and weapons now. There is a problem with your email/password. Richard Knerr (19252008[2]) and Arthur "Spud" Melin (19242002[3]), two University of Southern California graduates who were friends since their teens, were unhappy with their jobs and decided to start their own business. When Melin and Knerr started their company in 1948, they named it for the sound made by their top product--a slingshot hitting its target. Mr. Melin (pronounced muh-LIN) once bought a truckload of oysters from Texas in hopes of starting a raw bar in California modeled after those he had seen in New York. When lawsuits were brought over serious injuriesincluding one death and two broken necksthe company ceased production.. We didnt want it used as a toy, Melin told the Pasadena Star-News in 1998. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? But neither Arthur Melin nor Richard Knerr can lay any claim to inventing the thing. Knerr once had a baby elephant delivered to Melins wife, Suzy, after Melin went on an African safari without him. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. At first business was slow and the pair struggled to get by on just a couple dollars a day but gradually the orders were pouring in. 1950s Fads - Hula Hoops In 1959 Wham-O marketed a slightly modified version, which they had renamed the "Frisbee" two years earlier in 1957 - and once again a Wham-O toy became a common part of life through the 1960s. Neon bending! But as quickly as the fad arrived, it ended, when school began, leaving Wham-O with millions of hoops and a $10,000 loss for the year. Richard Knerr, co-founder of the company responsible for turning the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and many other ingenious creations into iconic toys died Monday at age 82. Since the toys were simple and inexpensive, they could be sold by a wide range of retailers, from large Department Stores to five and dime stores. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Richard Rich Knerr co-founded the Wham-O company, which specialised in fun products such as Silly String and the Super Ball. He was 77 and had Alzheimer's disease. Kids would just throw it on the ground and it would just take off to the ceiling, into lights.". "I think he proved the American success story. See more:12 Wacky Products from Wham-O You Have to See to Believe., That wouldnt fly in todays toy world. Mattel Inc. bought the company in 1994. Wham-O was resold to Mattel Inc. in 1994 and to a group of investors in 1997. Their projectile launcher was a home-made version of one of man's oldest weapons, the slingshot. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? In 1982, Spud Melin and Knerr sold Wham-O to the Kransco Group for $12 million, but Spud Melin kept up his interest in gadgets - at one point, he patented a two-handed tennis racket with an adjustable handle. Wham-O would never have seen that success if not for their open-door policy: Anyone could telegram, mail, or show up in person with a toy idea. In 1958, the founders of Wham-O toys, Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, Vintage plastic Mr. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. Since then, he has been involved in several experimental treatments, Mrs. Melin said, and he has willed his brain to the University of California at Irvine, where he was treated.Besides his wife, he is survived five daughters, Linda Melin, Sally Melin, June Macy-Melin, Carol Denham and Della Peterson; a brother, Tom Melin; and 11 grandchildren. They just did it because they thought it was funny.. Then, in 1958, Wham-O toy company founders Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin saw the potential in the humble hoop and began to mass-market a 40-in. Along with his wife, Melin is survived by five daughters, Linda, Sally, June, Carol and Della; one brother, Tom; and 11 grandchildren. Thanks for your help! Hula hooping teens became an iconic image of the 1950s, and the fad grew when Wham-O began manufacturing a smaller version of the hoop for the younger set. If it was good, the company would license it and pay out a royalty. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. He is survived by his wife and five daughters. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Overview. He was 82. Mr Knerr, who retired when he and company co-founder Arthur Spud Melin sold Wham-O in 1982, Richard Knerr who invented the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee. "No sensation has ever swept the country like the Hula Hoop," author Richard Johnson wrote in his book "American Fads." New products were developed for tryout periods. 1948: WHAM-O founded. He was 77 and had Alzheimer's disease. Wham-O was the comic book sound effect they assigned to their ball bearings hitting a target, and a good name for a company that specialized in launching projectiles: blowguns, throwing knives, and tomahawks followed. Edit Overview Section. ''Spud brought it home and showed it to me,'' Mrs. Melin recalled yesterday. Both born in 1925, Knerr made rubber band guns out of apple crates and peddled them at the age of 9; Melin caught and sold halibut door to door. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. "Superball was such a great one. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Arthur Melin (27070295)? Born in Los Angeles on December 30th, 1924, he and his boyhood pal, later business partner, Richard (Rich) Knerr, studied at the University of South California. WebRichard Knerr and Arthur Spud Melin, founders of the Wham-O Company, are the architects of the biggest fad of all time the hula hoop! You can always change this later in your Account settings. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Current one is: March 5. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Melin became active in conservative causes like immigration reform, but continued to pursue inventions. Air Blaster (1965), which shot a puff of air that could blow out a candle at 20 feet. 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. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Search above to list available cemeteries. Soon, crowds of teenagers rotating their hula hoops were featured in Life magazine and on the Dinah Shore Show. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Wham-O, in fact, hired students to sell Frisbees on campuses until it could get distribution in stores. He left behind a legacy of fun. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. 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