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Hula Hoops

Page history last edited by Hula Hoops 13 years, 7 months ago

 

 

 

Backround

 

      In the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel he refers to the creation of Hula Hoops in 1959. Some backround information about this topic is that Hula Hoops were created by a toymaker named Alex Tolmer[1]. Tolmer's company Toltoys had been working with Wham-O, a company located in California who introduced the creation[2]. Some basic facts about hula hoops are that the material they are made out of is marlex which is a strong plastic but lightweight[3]. Although the hula hoop had many different names the most popular one was "The Granddaddy of All Fads." In 1959, Wham-O sold its 100 millionth hula hoop. By 1960, sales plummeted, Wham-O started melting the hula hoop's marlex into frisbees[4]. The record for how much time you could go for hula hooping is held by eight-year-old named Mary Jane Freeze. Hula Hoops became a national fad. Everywhere, you would see children and even adults trying to spin the large plastic hoop around their waste. TV celebrities would also display their skills with the hula hoop. The fad peaked and died out fast.[5]

 

 

Importance

 

     The signifigance of this event is the creation of a fad that is still very popular today for exercise and for fun. Also, is has been a big part of our culture and always will be. It is hard to imagine what the hula hoop became, from bamboo to glitter and sparkles. This is significant to compare to see how much we as humans have evolved and how hula hoops have as well. Eskimos rolled hoops, spinning hoops was popular in England, Egyptian and Greek people propelled hoops made of grape vine, and Native Indians used hoops to practice shooting accuracy. The point is that we were not the first ones to come up with this idea.[6]  We were actually the last ones to come up with this idea. 

 

 

                                  How to Hula Hoop

 


How to Hula Hoop -- powered by eHow.com

 

 

Footnotes

  1. http://popculture.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1507524?terms=hula+hoops ▲
  2. http://popculture.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1506048?terms=Wham-O ▲
  3. http://popculture.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1507524?terms=hula+hoops ▲
  4. http://popculture.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1506048?terms=Wham-O&webSiteCode=SLN_PCU&returnToPage=%2fSearch%2fDisplay%2f1506048%3fterms%3dWham-O&token=DFF7FF2CA874CDF43510C26FE90F42CC&casError=False ▲
  5. http://geography2007.blogspot.com/2007/05/hula-hoops-1959.html ▲
  6. http://www.catalogs.com/info/hobbies/hula-hoops.html ▲

Comments (5)

Berlin said

at 6:41 pm on Sep 23, 2010

Plenty of useful information and nice video.

Sputnik said

at 7:09 pm on Sep 23, 2010

i thought that this was a very influential topic because hoola-hooping is a very good exercise and it is fun! this is influential because is could get people to exercise... FINALLY! Nice video by the way, very interesting. Do you know how to hula-hoop?

Dylan said

at 7:28 pm on Sep 23, 2010

I thought I was familiar with a hool-a-hoop, circular disk that you spin aaround your waist. However, I was wrong. I didn't know that it's made or marlex, in fact I didn't even know marlex existed. In addition, I didn't know that we were the last country to invent a hool-a-hoop. Also, I didn't know how significant this creation was and that it became such a fad and that it's so good for exercise. Just a quick question-out of the countries and people you listed above, which one invented the hool-a-hoop first?

Dylan said

at 7:28 pm on Sep 23, 2010

I thought I was familiar with a hool-a-hoop, circular disk that you spin aaround your waist. However, I was wrong. I didn't know that it's made or marlex, in fact I didn't even know marlex existed. In addition, I didn't know that we were the last country to invent a hool-a-hoop. Also, I didn't know how significant this creation was and that it became such a fad and that it's so good for exercise. Just a quick question-out of the countries and people you listed above, which one invented the hool-a-hoop first?

Dylan said

at 7:29 pm on Sep 23, 2010

Sorry for commenting the same thing twice, I thought it didn't work.

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