In today’s digital age it is hard to imagine that a simple toy plastic hoop that you swung around your waist was a super hot trend that swept the nation beginning in 1963. I guess we were more easily entertained back then. Seems like my sister and I had a purple and white and orange and white version.
Toy maker Wham-O who invented the wildly famous Frisbee was the original creator of the Hula Hoop. Company founders Arthur “Spud” Melin and Richard Knerr saw kids in Australia using a wooden hoop in gym class and were inspired to create the plastic version and bring it to America. These California businessmen put on demonstrations on playgrounds and beaches around Southern California and it became a huge hit. They dubbed their plastic version the “Hula” hoop because the gyrations to keep the hoop spinning reminded them of the Hawaiian Hula dancers.The fad only lasted about four months but over 25 million were produced during that time!
People hula-hooped themselves into the Guiness Book of World Records by twirling multiple hoops or the world’s largest hoops and some fitness centers also use their own Hula Hoops for exercise and waist trimming.
If I looked in my mother’s basement, I might even find our old hula hoops unless my brother who came along in the 70’s decided to do use if for some kind of destruction/construcion element that boy’s often do with toys.
Wham-O went on to create other funny classic toys like Silly String, Hacky Sack and Slip and Slide. You can often still find generic Hula Hoops in discount stores in the summer and they are still fun to use and see if you can still “hula”. There is no great value in old Hula Hoops but I hope it brought back some great memories. Happy Collecting!
