From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
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The hula hoop is an ancient invention - no modern company or inventor can claim that they invented the first hula hoop. However, many companies "re-invented" their versions of the hula hoop made of modern materials like plastic with added twists like glitter and sounds. The original hula hoops were made from metal, bamboo, wood, grasses, and vines.

Trademark - Hula Hoop

Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin founded the Wham-O company which also helped popularize another ancient toy, the frisbee. Knerr and Melin started their company out of their Los Angeles garage in 1948. The men were marketing a slingshot originally invented for training pet falcons and hawks {by slinging meat at the birds). The slingshot was called "Wham-O" because of the sound it made when it hit the target and became the name of their company.

Wham-O is the most successful manufacturer of hula hoops in modern times and the company that trademarked the name Hula Hoop ® and start manufacturing the toy out of the plastic Marlex in 1958.

Twenty million Wham-O hula hoops sold for $1.98 in the first six months.

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