| The hula hoop
is a toy hoop that promotes physical activity.
Today it is often made of plastic and twirled
around the waist or limbs.
Children around the world have always played with hoops, twirling,
rolling and throwing them. The hoops were made
of grapevines and stiff grasses. In Egypt around
3000 years ago, hoops made out of grape vines
were propelled around the ground with sticks.
In ancient Greece their use was recommended for
losing weight. In the 14th century, "hooping"
was popular in England and medics blamed it for
heart attacks and back dislocations. The word
"hula" was added in the early 18th century
as sailors that visited Hawaii noticed the similarity
between hula dancing and hooping.
In 1957 the hula hoop was reinvented by two college graduates,
Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin,
who had founded the Wham-O company in 1948 and
now had their breakthrough. The idea came from
a Californian who had visited Australia who told
Knerr and Melin about children twirling bamboo
hoops around the waist in gym class. So the new
Hula Hoops were created with Marlex, a recently
invented durable plastic (where the hoop hype
helped as a kickstarter for Marlex production).
Today the hula hoop is known as the biggest and
most profitable fad of the 1950s.
After the hoop was released in 1958, Wham-O sold over 100 million
in two years. This was referenced in the 1994
movie The Hudsucker Proxy by the Coen Brothers.
As the fad burned out, Wham-O again struck lucky
with the release of their Frisbee.
Nationally Ranked Competitive Hula Hoopers:
Benjy Bronk, Lori Lynn Lomeli
Dance
It created a dance, the most famous dancer being Adriano Celentano.
Today
The past few years have seen the re-emergence of hula hooping. These 21st century hoopers are making their own (much larger and heavier) hoops out of polyethylene tubing.
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