US bids farewell to father of Frisbee, Hula Hoop crazes

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States this week bid farewell to Richard Knerr, whose company Wham-O helped turn epic American toys like the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and Silly String into national crazes.

Knerr, 82, died Monday at his home in Arcadia, California according to press reports. His wife said he had suffered a stroke.

In 1958, Knerr, an avid games enthusiast, along with his business partner and longtime friend Arthur Melin, began mass-marketing the hula hoop after gaining inspiration for the product from a friend in Australia who used a wooden hoop as exercise.

The wide, hollow circle of plastic -- that with the right combination of hip twisting and jerking could be made to whirl around the waist -- became an instant hit in post-World War II America....