[Robotgroup] OBIT: Co-inventor of Frisbee, etc.

[Don Colbath]

Wonder if he was a Frisbeeterian?  One of those who believe when you die
your soul gets stuck up on the roof.

Nod
----- Original Message -----
From: "Def Egge" <robodigest at innervate.com>
To: "The Robot Group" <robotgroup at puremagic.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 5:52 PM
Subject: [Robotgroup] OBIT: Co-inventor of Frisbee, etc.



NOTE: Ed Headrick, co-inventor of the modern Frisbee passed away on
2002-08-14.

http://tinyurl.com/36g36h

Co-Creator of Frisbee and Hula Hoop Dies at 82

by Karen Grigsby Bates

All Things Considered, January 17, 2008 · Richard Knerr, co-founder of
the company responsible for turning the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and many
other ingenious creations into iconic toys died Monday at age 82.

Knerr spent his final hours in Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Calif.,
after suffering a stroke earlier in the day at his home. He left
behind a legacy of fun.

Knerr and childhood buddy Arthur "Spud" Melin started a
slingshot-selling business in 1948 in Pasadena and called their
company Wham-O after what they said was the sound a slingshot made
when it hit something.

"They were like John Wayne and Ernest Hemingway all rolled into one.
They were all about fun," recalls Richard's son, Chuck.

Melin and Knerr had run a used-car store together in downtown Los
Angeles before founding Wham-O. They started making slingshots, just
for kicks, out of the ends of orange crates, Chuck recalls.

"Then their barber recommended they put an ad in a magazine and try
mail order," he says.

At first business was slow - and the pair struggled to get by on just
a couple dollars a day - but gradually the orders were pouring in.

A series of equally ingenious toys - including Slip 'N Slide, Silly
String, the Hula Hoop and the insanely bouncy Superball - would soon
follow.

All Knerr's creations had a way of bringing out the most mysterious
aspects of physics, Knerr says.

"Superball was such a great one. I remember being so proud when that
toy was banned from my school. Kids would just throw it on the ground
and it would just take off to the ceiling, into lights."

Promoting the creations was a family affair. Knerr and Melin devised a
test of an early version of the hula hoop in 1958 by holding
demonstrations at parks. If subjects mastered the swing of it, they
got to keep the toy.

"[My mother] and Spud's wife would demonstrate hula hoops in parks and
recreation centers around the country," Chuck says.

Soon, Wham-O was producing 20,000 hoops a day. Within four months, 25
million hoops had been sold, according to Wham-O, and hooping was an
integral part of American youth culture.

"They really liked enjoying life and enjoying their toys, and they
really wanted to share that sense of fun," he says. "I think he proved
the American success story."


--


All the best....


Mike


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