If it was good, the company would license it and pay out a royalty. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. [8] "Hula Hoop mania" continued through the end of 1959, and netted Wham-O $45million (equivalent to $418million in 2023[9]). Magic Window (1971), two 30 by 30 centimetres (12in 12in) oval plates of heavy clear plastic, with a narrow channel between them containing "microdium" (glass) crystal sands of varying colors that created complex patterns when shifted. 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. Everyone is just too litigious. 11 places in L.A. to get your creativity flowing. 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 There is a problem with your email/password. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Mr. Melin was right, though. 1948: WHAM-O founded. ''Mr. 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. It was like a new medium, says Tim Walsh, a Wham-O historian and author of The Wham-O Super Book. 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. The panel were stumped by the chief painter at the White House. Try again later. While visiting that continent he saw a little fish that buried its eggs in mud during the dry season. How Much People Earned From Their Iconic Inventions - Insider 1950s Fads - Hula Hoops Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Old ones were retired, for a few years or permanently, as their popularity waned. All rights reserved. They just banned Elvis Presley's hips from the Ed Sullivan show.' They began demonstrating the toy in parks and on television, and the fad quickly went viral. During an African safari in the early 1960s, Melin discovered a species of fish that laid eggs in the mud during Africa's dry season. The ball became so popular that football's biggest game, the Super Bowl, was a pun on it.. RELATED: Sherlock Holmes: 5 Similarities Between The Films Reboots & The BBC Series (& 5 Differences) They may Other companies began making their own versions, and within four months Americans were spinning 20 million of the hoops and organizing national competitions. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? Most of all, the two were able to get away with something rare in the cutthroat world of toys: they had fun. But Headrick wasn't the only mad scientist on staff.Wham-O had a second secret weapon in Norm Stingley, a chemist who brought them a highly volatile compound his company had been working on. Anyone can read what you share. 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. Their first product was the Wham-O Slingshot, made of ash wood, which Knerr and Melin promoted by holding demonstrations of their own slingshot skills. Spud Melin's genius saw the potential, and, after prototype trials with Pasadena children, manufactured, with Knerr, a hollow cylinder in light, durable polyurethane. Wham-O headquarters in Carson, California, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Richard Knerr, 82; co-founded Wham-O, maker of the Hula Hoop and Frisbee", "Super Bowl Owes Its Name to a Bouncy Ball History in the Headlines", "12 Lesser-Known Wham-O Products You Have to See to Believe", "Airgun makers that spawned firearms | Air gun blog Pyramyd Air Report", "Monster Super Gorilla Giant Horseshoe Magnet by Wham-o", "Super Sneaky Squirtin Stick Trademark #73131837, Owner: WHAM-O", "RETRO REVIEW: Wham-O Giant Comics #1 (April 1967)", "MTU Physics Alumni Department History Exhibits BS Degrees", "Get Yourself a Magic Window, just like the popular 70's toy for all ages! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. When lawsuits were brought over serious injuriesincluding one death and two broken necksthe company ceased production.. 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. Wham-O Bird Ornithopter (1959) sold in a large cardboard box, ready to fly. Wham-O, in fact, hired students to sell Frisbees on campuses until it could get distribution in stores. Pottery! The companys name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. By 1957, the company had sold several million of the disks.But nothing could compare to the whirlwind force of the Hula-Hoop, which Wham-O introduced the next year. 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 pop culture, has died. Richard Knerr | The Blog of Death TIME reporter Allie Townsend picks the 100 most influential toys from 1923 to the present. They also offered mail-order sporting goods, such as pellet guns, crossbows and daggers. ''. About 600,000 were made. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. Edit Jobs Section. They tried to sell their birds to enthusiasts, but got more interest for the shot, which they named Wham-O, for the sensation felt when it hit the target. Add to your scrapbook. The adolescent appetite for dangerous weapons and sporting goods was so large that the two were soon grossing $100,000 in annual revenue. When Hasbro tried to buy Wham-O in 1982, Melin and Knerr were responsive. 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. Commercials were shot in their own backyards. In fact, the company was named for the spectacular Arthur "Spud'' Melin, toy executive who gave world Frisbee At first, they focused on sporting goods, rather than toys, but they kept an eye out for unusual items like boomerangs and crossbows. Melin became active in conservative causes like immigration reform, but continued to pursue inventions. Read more:12 WackyProducts from Wham-O You Have to See to Believe.. He was 77. But as quickly as it started, it was over. Their bowling set consisted of a ball and pins that were sold empty and filled with water to add weight (the innovation also helped reduce shipping costs to retailers); a Wham-O game of catch involved a Pluto Platter, the disc-shaped saucer later re-named Frisbee that some people thought ran along strings; a cap gun that shot peas and beans at pretend cowboys. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. cemeteries found in Corona del Mar, Orange County, California, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved, 12 Wacky Products from Wham-O You Have to See to Believe, 12 WackyProducts from Wham-O You Have to See to Believe. 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. He was 77 and had lived in Irvine, Calif. The oft-told story behind the origin of the Hulu-Hoop is the tale of two childhood buddies named Richard Knerr and Arthur Spud Melin, the founders of Wham-O, who first heard of kids gyrating hoops around theirs waists for fun when a visiting Australian mentioned its popularity back home. They showed little regret. He reportedly has a net worth of $5.6 billion. Instead of counting a fortune, Wham-O was sitting on inventory they wouldnt clear for years. In the early 1960s Wham-O created the Super Ball, a high-bouncing ball made of a hard elastomer Polybutadiene alloy, dubbed Zectron, with a 0.92 coefficient of restitution when bounced on hard surfaces. But they hit the big time when Walter Frederick Morrison walked in with a toy flying disk, marrying the 1950s furor over UFOs and a game played by Yalies tossing empty pie tins from the Frisbie Baking Co. in Hartford, Conn. Wham-O began selling the plastic disks in 1957 as Pluto Platters. On January 31, 2011, Wham-O announced an agreement with ICM, the agency representing Atari video games, to represent Wham-O in movies, television, music, and online content based around its toys.[30]. based on information from your browser. WebEd Sullivan (2): Directed by Franklin Heller. They balanced and complemented each other.. They just banned Elvis Presley's hips from the Ed Sullivan show.' Art (Spud) Melin and Richard (Rich) Knerr had a knack for fun, and an open door for outside inventor ideas. The company ended 1958 with losses of $10,000. Melin retired from the company when it was sold to Kransco Group Cos. in 1982. As Wham-O changed ownership, its new management adjusted this formula to accommodate the changing toy industry, which had increasingly complex toys and fewer distribution channels. See more:12 Wacky Products from Wham-O You Have to See to Believe., That wouldnt fly in todays toy world. He patented a design for a two-handed tennis racket with an adjustable handle.Ten years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. 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 Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Arthur Melin (27070295)? Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Knerr and Melin left behind a considerable legacy in the toy world. Of their new releases, only Magic Window, which displayed psychedelic patterns in grains of sand, was a bonafide hit., People were gravitating towards stuff like Simon and Pong, Walsh says. The Frisbee was reintroduced in the late 1950s, this time as an athletic endeavor. Nonetheless, Hula-Hoops remain the most extraordinary US global imposition - travelling faster in two years than Coca-Cola in decades. ", Ben Martin/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. He was born in Los Angeles Nov. 16, 1922, to Della Kelso Melin and Charles Raymond Melin., and was the elder brother to Arthur Spud Melin. Shortly thereafter, the company had another huge success with the Frisbee. A local barber suggested they sell the contraption. But the imported fish produced no hatchable eggs. Real devotees were dubbed Frisbyterians.. Love, Spud., An hour later, she sees Dad and another man from work walking up her driveway, Knerr says.Then this fake delivery truck arrives, Suzy couldn't see what it was. The name "Wham-O" was inspired by the sound of the slingshot's shot hitting the target. The 76-year-old also built a large family. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27070295/arthur-kelso-melin. Arthur 'Spud' Melin, novelty inventor, born December 30 1924; died June 28 2002, The man who brought us the Hula-Hoop and the Frisbee, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. He sold the design to Wham-O in 1957. Melin, who started toy giant Wham-O in 1948 with his boyhood friend Richard Knerr, died Friday. Once perfected, the berserk Super Ball sold six million units in 1965 alone. He was 77 and had Alzheimer's disease. Nevertheless, the public of all ages also adopted them, buying more than 100 million Frisbees in 30 years. (They couldnt.) ''He said it would be huge. 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. A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. They extensively researched new product ideas, including traveling around the world. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. After all, the ball was unharmed. Verify and try again. Wham-O was also enjoying the creative freedom that came from the plastic injection molding process, a relatively recent innovation in the wooden toy business. New products were developed for tryout periods. Services are being planned in Newport Beach on Tuesday. 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. She didn't know what she was going to do with it.. The kinetic energy in the material was substantial: it could bounce over a two-story home. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. ''Spud brought it home and showed it to me,'' Mrs. Melin recalled yesterday. The Frisbee and Hula Hoop created fads. Because of its enduring popularity, the Hula Hoop was inducted into 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! Share this memorial using social media sites or email. [4] The powerful slingshot was adopted by clubs for competitive target shooting and small game hunting. Born in Los Angeles, Mr. Melin, known by his childhood nickname Spud, formed Wham-O with a friend, Richard Knerr, in 1948, while they were working for their fathers and attending the University of Southern California. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. 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. Youd never see a company making both toys and weapons now. They were flat broke. Number of Founded Organizations 1. Their research and development team consisted of their kids. Wham-Os Pluto Platter, meant to capitalize on the 1950s obsession with space and flying saucers, had a wobbly motion to it. (It was also 1958, before the advent of more sophisticated distractions.) When the rains came, the eggs hatched. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. WebThe hoop has been a popular children's toy for thousands of years, and the introduction of the Hula Hoop in 1958 by the Wham-O toy company has been documented by sociologists as one of the biggest fads ever to take hold in America and one of the most significant events of the time. Wham-O began selling the Hula Hoop a short time later and eventually would sell 25 million of them. Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. (It was later sold to Mattel, which then sold it to a group of investors.)Mr. In 1955, the founders of the Wham-O toy company, Arthur Spud Melin and Richard Knerr, saw Morrisons flying disc. Thanks to a savvy marketing campaign, 25 million hoops were sold within a few months of the product's launch; the hula hoop craze was off and looping, with kids all over America spinning hoops around their hips and waists.
arthur spud'' melin net worth
