You know. For the kids.
Posted on 06/29/2002 8:25:26 PM PDT by HAL9000
COSTA MESA, California, Jun 29, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Arthur "Spud" Melin, co-founder of the toy company that introduced the world to the Frisbee, Hula Hoop and other faddish gems of American pop culture, has died. He was 77 and had Alzheimer's disease.
Melin, who started toy giant Wham-O in 1948 with his boyhood friend Richard Knerr, died Friday.
"No sensation has ever swept the country like the Hula Hoop," author Richard Johnson wrote in his book "American Fads." "(It) remains the standard against which all national crazes are measured."
Melin and Knerr started with slingshots and named their mail-order company after the sound a slingshot made when its projectile struck a target. They branched into other sporting goods, including pellet guns, crossbows and daggers.
They added toys in 1955, when building inspector Fred Morrison sold them a plastic flying disc he had developed after watching Yale University students toss pie tins. Wham-O began selling the disc they called the "Pluto Platter" two years later before modifying it and renaming it the "Frisbee."
"We didn't want it used as a toy, we wanted it to be a sport," Melin said in a 1998 interview with the Pasadena Star-News.
In 1958, as Frisbee sales took off, an Australian toy manufacturer visited Wham-O's factory in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel. He gave company officials an impromptu lesson in how to use a rattan hoop imported from Australia.
Wham-O began selling the Hula Hoop a short time later and eventually would sell 25 million of them.
Melin retired when Wham-O was sold to Kransco Group Cos. in 1982. Mattel Inc. bought the company in 1994. A group of investors then bought Wham-O back from Mattel in 1997 for about dlrs 20 million and relaunched many of its best-known toys, including the Slip 'N Slide.
Melin is survived by his wife, Suzy; five daughters; a brother; and 11 grandchildren.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
But I'm not, so I won't.
You're bad, really bad! LOL!
Nam Vet
You know. For the kids.
oh fer cryin' in a bucket.... =^)
Does the inventor of the lawn dart yet live?
"We didn't have a Slip N' Slide, so we made our own. Our first version, fashioned from 25 feet of Handi-Wrap, was a failure because the thin plastic clung to our wet bodies and sometimes obstructed our breathing holes. We then tried drenching the sidewalk with water, but after a few slides, our torsos resembled raw hamburger. Finally, we discovered that a flooded strip of lawn makes a satisfactory Slip N' Slide.
Unfortunately, one record-breaking slide ended tragically when the slider's head slammed against an avocado tree at the end of the strip. "BOSS SLIDE!" amazed spectators yelled after the feat. "Huh?" mumbled the confused slider, temporarily unable to understand speech because of his tree-related head injury.
When a group of concerned parents outlawed our homemade Slip N' Slide, we reluctantly resorted to my least favorite water toy, the Wham-O Water Wiggle, which terrified and traumatized an entire generation of children.
Powered by an ordinary garden hose, this demonic plaything flailed wildly around the yard, whipping, slapping and choking innocent children. One Saturday afternoon, Water Wiggle set his sights on me. He relentlessly chased me across the yard and into the street, completely ignoring several slower kids who were within easy striking distance. Just when I thought I was out of his hose range, he lunged and wrapped himself around my neck.
"TURN OFF THE WATER!" somebody screamed. "HE'S GOT MARK!!"
As the lifeblood slowly drained from his despicable conical head, Water Wiggle unwillingly loosened his stranglehold, never losing that insane smile. When I regained my composure, we resurrected the plastic psychopath for another assault. I don't know why we did it. We were crazy kids doing crazy things in crazy times. Perhaps we subconsciously enjoyed the thrill of living on the edge.
This was taken from a column by Mark Mayfield. I had not heard of him before I did a google search on "Water Wiggle." Mark is right - Mr. Wiggle's expression was demonic.
Fortunately (IMHO), Frisbies had a lot more staying power than Hula Hoops, which I am just barely old enough to remember. I'll bet a bunch of rec rooms and attics contain dusty, forgotten, 45-year-old Hula Hoops. Heck, they're hard to throw away, because they won't fit in a trash can.
---max
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