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Wham-O
Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. It is known for creating and marketing many popular toys for nearly 70 years, including the Hula hoop, Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky sack, Wham-O Bird Ornithopter and Boogie Board, many of which have become genericized trademarks. Corporate history Richard Knerr (1925–2008) and Arthur "Spud" Melin (1924–2002), two University of Southern California graduates who were friends since their teens, were unhappy with their jobs and decided to start their own business. In 1948 they formed the WHAM-O Manufacturing Company in the Knerr family garage in South Pasadena. 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. The name "Wham-O" was inspired by the sound of the slingshot's shot hitting the target. The powerful slingshot was adopted by clubs for competitive ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slip 'N Slide
Slip ’N Slide is a children's toy invented by Robert Carrier and manufactured by Wham-O. It was first sold in 1961. The main form is a plastic sheet and a method of wetting it; when the surface is wet it becomes very slippery, allowing the user to slide along it. Some versions also include an inflatable pool for the user to slide into, and spray tubes. History The creator was inspired by his son sliding on wet, painted concrete. He used his job as an upholsterer to obtain a long strip of Naugahyde, sewed a tube to pass a hose into, and punctured the tube sporadically to allow water to spurt out. Carrier sold his invention to Wham-O where they replaced Naugahyde with plastic to reduce production costs. The toy is a long sheet of thin plastic, constructed with a heat-sealed tube running along one side. The tube can be connected to any garden hose and water goes in the tube and out through small holes, spraying onto the sliding surface where it becomes very slippery, enabling u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Ball
A Super Ball or Superball is a toy bouncy ball based on a type of synthetic rubber invented in 1964 by chemist Norman Stingley. It is an extremely elastic ball made of Zectron, which contains the synthetic polymer polybutadiene as well as hydrated silica, zinc oxide, stearic acid, and other ingredients. This compound is vulcanized with sulfur at a temperature of and formed at a pressure of . The resulting Super Ball has a very high coefficient of restitution, and if dropped from shoulder level on a hard surface, a Super Ball bounces nearly all the way back; thrown down onto a hard surface by an average adult, it can fly over a three-story building. History Stingley sought uses for his polybutadiene synthetic rubber, as well as someone to manufacture it. He first offered his invention to the Bettis Rubber Company, for whom he worked at the time, but they turned it down because the material was not very durable. So Stingley took it to toy company Wham-O; they worked on dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frisbee 090719
A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitively for throwing and catching, as in flying disc games. The shape of the disc is an airfoil in cross-section which allows it to fly by reducing the drag and increasing lift as it moves through the air, compared to a flat plate. Spinning the disc imparts a stabilizing gyroscopic force, allowing it to be both aimed with accuracy and thrown for distance. A wide range is available of flying disc variants. Those for disc golf are usually smaller but denser and tailored for particular flight profiles to increase or decrease stability and distance. The longest recorded disc throw is by David Wiggins Jr. with a distance of . Disc dog sports use relatively slow-flying discs made of more pliable material to better resist a dog's bite and prevent inju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frisbee
A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitively for throwing and catching, as in flying disc games. The shape of the disc is an airfoil in cross-section which allows it to fly by reducing the drag and increasing lift as it moves through the air, compared to a flat plate. Spinning the disc imparts a stabilizing gyroscopic force, allowing it to be both aimed with accuracy and thrown for distance. A wide range is available of flying disc variants. Those for disc golf are usually smaller but denser and tailored for particular flight profiles to increase or decrease stability and distance. The longest recorded disc throw is by David Wiggins Jr. with a distance of . Disc dog sports use relatively slow-flying discs made of more pliable material to better resist a dog's bite and prevent in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hula Hoop
A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. It can also be wheeled along the ground like a wheel, with careful execution. They have been used by children and adults since at least 500 BC. The modern hula hoop was inspired by Australian bamboo hoops. Common lore posits the creators of the plastic hoop popularised in the US witnessed Australian children playing with bamboo hoops while driving past in an automobile. The new plastic version was popularized in 1958 by the Wham-O toy company and became a fad. Hula hoops for children generally measure approximately in diameter, while those for adults measure around . Traditional materials for hoops include willow, rattan (a flexible and strong vine), grapevines and stiff grasses. Commercial hoops are usually made of plastic tubing. Origins Native American Hoop Dance is a form of storytelling dance incorporating hoops as props. These props are used to create both static and dynamic shapes, which repr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slingshot
A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the projectile. One hand holds the frame, while the other hand grasps the pocket and draws it back to the desired extent to provide power for the projectile—up to a full span of the arm with sufficiently long bands. Other names include catapult (United Kingdom), peashooter (United States), gulel (India), getis / guleli (Nepal), (South Africa), or ging, shanghai, pachoonga (Australia and New Zealand), Tirador (Philippines). Use and history Slingshots depend on strong elastic materials, typically vulcanized natural rubber or the equivalent such as silicone rubber tubing, and thus date no earlier than the invention of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear in 1839 (patented in 1844). By 1860, this "new engine" had established a reputation for us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Knerr
Richard Knerr (30 June 1925 – 14 January 2008) was an American inventor best known for marketing the Frisbee and Hula hoop. Career Wham-O In 1948, he co-founded the company Wham-O with Arthur Melin (nicknamed "Spud"). In 1957, an Australian visiting California told them offhand that in his home country, children twirled bamboo hoops around their waists in gym class. Knerr and Melin saw how popular such a toy would be, and soon they were winning rave reviews from school kids for the hollow plastic prototype they had created. References External linksThe Joy of Sillyarticle in the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...Official Frisbee websiteby Wham-O, manufacturer of Frisbee brand flying discs Obituary in "The Guardian", 7 April 2008 Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hacky Sack
A footbag is a small, round bag usually filled with plastic pellets or sand, which is kicked into the air as part of a competitive game or as a display of dexterity. "Hacky Sack" is the name of a brand of footbag popular in the 1970s (currently owned by Wham-O), which has since become a generic trademark. The most common game of footbag consists of two or more players standing in a circle and trying to keep the sack off the ground for as long as possible. History Footbag-like activities have existed for many years. The game is similar to traditional Asian games of kicking the shuttlecock, known as ''jianzi'' or ''chapteh''. The game is also similar to some South East Asian games, such as ''chinlone'', ''sepak takraw'' and ''sipa''. This game is known as ''jegichagi'' (제기차기) in Korea. The Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan practice dates back to at least the 1930s, and French policemen are seen playing a shuttlecock game in the 1955 American film ''To Catch a Thief''. The same princip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Frederick Morrison
Walter Frederick Morrison (January 23, 1920 – February 9, 2010) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, who invented the Frisbee. Early life Walter Fredrick "Fred" Morrison was born on January 23, 1920 in Richfield, Utah, the son of Dr. Walter F. Morrison, an optometrist. Career Morrison stated that the original idea for a flying disc toy came to him in 1937, while throwing a popcorn can lid with his girlfriend, Lucile Eleanor "Lu" Nay (1920–1987), whom he later married on April 3, 1939 in Los Angeles, California. The popcorn can lid soon dented which led to the discovery that cake pans flew better and were more common. A year later, Morrison and Lu were offered 25 cents for a cake pan that they were tossing back and forth on a Santa Monica, California beach. Morrison detailed, in a 2007 interview, "That got the wheels turning, because you could buy a cake pan for five cents, and if people on the beach were willing to pay a quarter for it, well—there was a business." Mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marlex
Marlex is a trademarked name for crystalline polypropylene and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These plastics were invented by J. Paul Hogan and Robert Banks, two research chemists at the Phillips Petroleum Company. Interest in the material in the 1950s arose from its high melting point and tensile strength, making it more desirable than the more common form of polyethylene. For example, the medical community in 1958 was eager to use Marlex 50 crystalline polyethylene which softens at . Objects made of Marlex could be sterilized in high-temperature autoclaves without affecting their form. Marlex was used by Wham-O for their Hula Hoops in the 1950s, which helped create a market for this form of plastic. It is now used surgically as a reinforcing mesh in inguinal hernia repair Inguinal hernia surgery is an operation to repair a weakness in the abdominal wall that abnormally allows abdominal contents to slip into a narrow tube called the inguinal canal in the groin region. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huy Fong Foods
Huy Fong Foods is an American hot sauce company based in Irwindale, California. It was founded by David Tran, a Vietnamese-born immigrant, beginning in 1980 on Spring Street in Los Angeles's Chinatown. It has grown to one of the leaders in the Asian hot sauce market with its sriracha sauce, popularly referred to as "rooster sauce" or "cock sauce" due to the image of a rooster on the label. Products The company's most popular product is its sriracha sauce. The primary ingredients are peppers, garlic, and sugar. It was originally made with Serrano peppers and is now made with red Jalapeño peppers, reducing the overall pungency. It is currently Huy Fong Foods' best-known and best-selling item, easily recognized by its bright red color and its packaging: a clear plastic bottle with a green cap, text in five languages (Vietnamese, English, Chinese, French, and Spanish) and the rooster logo. One nickname for the product is "rooster sauce”, for the logo on the bottles. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game is played on the second Sunday in February. Prior Super Bowls were played on Sundays in early to mid-January from 1967 to 1978, late January from 1979 to 2003, and the first Sunday of February from 2004 to 2021. Winning teams are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the coach who won the first two Super Bowls. Due to the NFL restricting use of its "Super Bowl" trademark, it is frequently referred to as the "big game" or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. The day the game is played is often referred to as "Super Bowl Sunday" or simply "Super Sunday". The game was created as part of a 1966 merger agreement between the NFL and the competing American Football League (AFL) to have their best teams compete for a champi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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