Melin We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. All Rights Reserved. Drag images here or select from your computer for Arthur Kelso Spud Melin memorial. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. 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. Headricka veteran who spied on Nazi movements during World War IIpaid college kids to toss the disc on campuses. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. 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. Once perfected, the berserk Super Ball sold six million units in 1965 alone. Failed to delete flower. There was an error deleting this problem. Recalled in 1978 after it caused the deaths of two children, having sold approximately 2.5 million units. But the imported fish produced no hatchable eggs. A group of investors then bought Wham-O back from Mattel in 1997 for about $20 million and relaunched many of its best-known toys, including the Slip 'N Slide. Richard Knerr, co-founder of Wham-O - Santa Rosa Press Democrat A toy maker from Australia gave Mr. Mullin and Mr. Knerr a wooden exercise hoop used in gymnastics classes. And like his father, Arthur Smith excels at his job. Wham-O kept an open door to inventors, pro or amateur: 20 nutty ideas arrived daily, including, in the early 1960s, the offer from a chemical engineer of an accidentally compressed plastic, Zectron, which bounced uncontrollably. Wham-O was resold to Mattel Inc. in 1994 and to a group of investors in 1997. Potato Heads can be worth from $200 to $695 dollars. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Melin retired when Wham-O was sold to Kransco Group Cos. in 1982. Bookbinding! The Hula had been In 1955 inventor Fred Morrison began marketing a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter. Add to your scrapbook. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Wham-O was also responsible for a few ideas that did not etch themselves into popular history as indelibly as the Frisbee, the Hula Hoop or the Superball. But nothing could compare to the whirlwind force of the Hula-Hoop, which Wham-O introduced the next year. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. The Men Who Invented Fun: A History of Wham-O Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. Richard A. Johnson, author of the book American Fads, declared the Hula Hoop the undisputed granddaddy of American fads. No sensation has ever swept the country like the Hula Hoop, he wrote. Its origins are disputed, but seem to have been in empty pie tins from the Frisbie Baking Company, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, tossed around the ivy-league campus of Yale - or Princeton, Dartmouth, Amherst and Middlebury, each of which claims to be its home. They just did it because they thought it was funny.. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. The Atlanta Falcons Have Hired the Founder By the end of the 1970s, Wham-O had settled into a strange sense of complacency. After all, the ball was unharmed. In 1982, Melin and Knerr sold Wham-O to the Kransco Group for $12m, but Melin kept up his interest in gadgets - at one point, he They did not know what to make of it until another friend from Australia showed them how to gyrate their hips, thus spinning the hoop. By various estimates, 20 million to 40 million were sold that year worldwide.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.Wham-O rebounded a few years later with the unusual spring of the SuperBall, made of a compressed plastic known as Zectron. And when the novelty products missedlike the "Mr. Hootie" egg rake, meant to help users pluck out bits of egg shell from a cracked eggat least Melin and Knerr managed to amuse themselves. The Hula had been nothing less than an international sensation, hypnotizing adults and children into rhythmically twisting just to keep a plastic ring from falling to the floor. There was no one like Melin or Knerr sitting over a drawing board and trying to come up with an outlandish product. Knerr and Melin left behind a considerable legacy in the toy world. The History of the Frisbee Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. A. Melin, 77; Introduced Frisbee and Hula Hoop Head to one of these 8 L.A. spots for the perfect spring paddle. Shortly thereafter, the company had another huge success with the Frisbee. In 1957, Toltoys of Australia brought the concept of the Hula Hoop to Knerr and Melin. Tens of millions of hoops were snapped up, with Wham-O racing to meet demand. Humans have been hula hooping for hundreds of years. 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. The pair, who would remain lifelong pals and business partners, attended the University of 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. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. 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. "[My mother] and Spud's wife would demonstrate hula hoops in parks and recreation centers around the country," Chuck says. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Fewpeople in the history of fun can have had such success as Arthur (Spud) Melin, who died on June 28th aged 77, the co-inventor of the Hula-Hoop and manufacturer of the Frisbee, the Superball, the Hacky Sack and a long inventory of wheezes. Wham-O rebounded a few years later with the unusual spring of the SuperBall, made of a compressed plastic known as Zectron. Water Wiggle (1962), a plastic-enclosed curved nozzle that, when powered by a garden hose, became airborne. 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. One hundred million platters have been sold, and as Spud Melin hoped, they became a sport - the basis of the team game Ultimate, with world championships, and disc golf on 500 courses worldwide. Arthur "Spud'' Melin, toy executive who gave world Frisbee There would be other fads, trends, and ideas. WebIn 1948, he co-founded the company Wham-O with Arthur Melin (nicknamed "Spud"). Number of Founded Organizations 1. They showed little regret. He sold the design to Wham-O in 1957. They knew if they spent the money, theyd see a return on their investment, Walsh says. Costa Mesa, Orange County, California, USA. 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 Wham-O, Melin and Knerrs California-based amusements company, had set up so many factories and rolled out so many Hulas that the surplus of inventory robbed them of profits. March 5, 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 He always had kids test his toys to see if they had play value. Long story short, after much effort and rejection, Spud finally got financing for his Hula Hoop, and Wham-O went on to sell some 25 million hoops the first year, making Spud tens of millions of dollars and making at least fifty bankers and investors sick. Frisbie.. After selling more than 100 million Hula Hoops in 16 months, Arthur Spud Melin and Rich Knerr took a look at their books. They were more of an old-school company. The companys name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. While the hula hoop never went away, it has had a bit of a revival in the past five years with popular hoop fitness classes. Wham-O first tried to sell the disk as the Pluto Platter, an attempt to cash in on the country's fascination with unidentified flying objects. Soon, crowds of teenagers rotating their hula hoops were featured in Life magazine and on the Dinah Shore Show. READ MORE: The History of Must-Have Holiday Toys. It was a little like excavating for toy gold, but the results were worthwhile: Slip N Slide, invented by an upholsterer, became one of the companys biggest perennial sellers. Overview. An hour later, Knerr had the elephant returned to the circus. Gender Male; Jobs. (It was later sold to Mattel, which then sold it to a group of investors.)Mr. ''Spud brought it home and showed it to me,'' Mrs. Melin recalled yesterday. Pottery! Sales skyrocketed, reaching 100 million before Mattel eventually bought out Wham-O. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Wham-O began selling the Hula Hoop a short time later and eventually would sell 25 million of them. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. During the first half of the 20th century, the best way to see someone use a hula hoop was to watch Chinese acrobats twirl multiple hoops on their arms, legs and torsos. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. In an era dominated by toymakers who had been around for decades, Wham-O innovated or acquired revolutionary ideas: the Frisbee, Slip N Slide, Super Ball, Silly String, and dozens of novelty items, all bearing their unique brand aesthetic. He was a good player in his own right, earning the nickname Steady Ed for his even throws. Services are being planned in Newport Beach on Tuesday. Verify and try again. Richard Knerr | The Blog of Death Many products were not successful. Are you sure that you want to delete this flower? Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Smith has 10 children, including a daughter who works as a film producer. The Americans had trouble duplicating the moves of the Australian kids until a Wham-O executive, Richard Gillespie, finally mastered the art after four straight days of practice. She didn't know what she was going to do with it.. Arthur Melin, 77, a Promoter of the Hula-Hoop, Is Dead Wham-O's initial success was a result of its founders' insight. Richard Knerr - Wikipedia Dad was the extrovert, a more sociable people person, so he was the one who did most interviews and the PR in the later years. You can even hire a personal hula hoop trainer. 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. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Every toy company has a submission policy, says Walsh, who also designs games. In 1958, the founders of Wham-O toys, Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, Vintage plastic Mr. There is a problem with your email/password. 11 places in L.A. to get your creativity flowing. The Frisbee was reintroduced in the late 1950s, this time as an athletic endeavor. He was 77 and had lived in Irvine, Calif. "No sensation has ever swept the country like the Hula Hoop," author Richard Johnson wrote in his book "American Fads." After selling more than 100 million Hula Hoops in 16 months, Arthur Spud Melin and Rich Knerr took a look at their books. Today I Found Out For example, Sea-Doo is a brand of personal water craft owned by Bombardier; Wham-O makes a Sea-Doo line of small inflatable rafts designed to be towed behind watercraft. Wham-O co-founders Arthur Melin (left) and Richard Knerr try out their toy company's Hula Hoop, a plastic version of a rattan hoop popular in Australia. Both the Hula Hoop and Instant Fish sprang from Melins interest in other parts of the world. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. A system error has occurred. Please enter your email and password to sign in. He patented a design for a two-handed tennis racket with an adjustable handle. But Wham-O continued to make other novelties, like Silly String and the Slip 'n' Slide.Tiring of business, Mr. Melin persuaded Mr. Knerr to sell the company in 1982 to the Kransco Group Companies for $12 million. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. 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. (It was later sold to Mattel, which then sold it to a group of investors.). Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it?