Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. It is known for creating and marketing many popular toys for nearly 70 years, including the Hula hoop, Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball,
Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky sack, Magic Window (shown
below), Wham-O Bird Ornithopter and Boogie Board, many of which have become
generic trademarks.
QUICK
COMPANY TIMELINE
.
1948: WHAM-O founded. 1957: WHAM-O acquires the rights to the Pluto Platter from Fred Morrison and renames it Frisbee.
1958: Hula Hoop introduced 1958: Frisbee sales improve 1961: Slip 'N' Slide introduced 1965: Super Ball introduced 1982: Wham-O purchased by Kransco Group
Co 1994: Mattel buys Wham-O from Kransco 1995: Wham-O buys
Aspectus.
1997: Wham-O becomes independent again when an investment group purchases it from Mattel 2002: Founder Arthur "Spud" Melin dies 2006: Wham-O is sold for
$80 million to Cornerstone Overseas Investment
Limited, a Chinese company 2008: Founder Richard Knerr
dies 2008: Wham-O introduces the EZ Spin Foam Frisbee Disc, a soft foam version of the Frisbee 2009: Wham-O sold to investment firm The Aguilar
Group 2010: Wham-O acquires Sprig Toys
Inc. 2015: StallionSport Ltd. and InterSport Corp. acquire global rights to Wham-O Inc.
2018: Wham-O partners with Smacircle LMT ltd. to introduce Smacircle S1, an
e-bike
THE YEAR WAS
1955... (If I hadn't lived through it, I wouldn't believe it myself.)
Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter?
If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.
When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon? Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.
Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.
I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They're even making electric typewriters now.
It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.
It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.
I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.
Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government.
The fast food restaurant is convenient for a quick meal, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.
There is no sense going on short trips any more for a weekend. It costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay in a hotel.
No one can afford to be sick anymore. At $15.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for my blood.
If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.
Know any friends who would get a kick out of these,
feel free to copy and paste, or even better, send them
the link to the Metro. Pass this on! Be sure and send it to your kids and grandkids, too!
The year was 1955
WHEN I WAS A
KID...
A Cootie Catcher (also called a fortune teller, chatterbox, salt cellar, whirlybird, or paku-paku) is a form of origami used in children's games. Parts of the fortune teller are
labeled with colors or numbers that serve as options for a player to choose from, and on the inside are eight flaps, each concealing a message. The person operating the fortune teller manipulates the device based on the choices made by the player, and finally one of the hidden messages is revealed. These messages may purport to answer questions (hence the name) or they may be activities that the player must perform.
Telling Fortunes
To use the fortune teller, the person telling the fortunes holds the four corners of the paper with index fingers and thumbs on both hands, keeping two pairs of corners together and the other two pairs separated so that only half of the internal sides of the corners are visible.
Manipulations are done by various similar methods...
In a common method, the player asks a question of the person holding the fortune teller; this question will be answered by the device. The holder then asks for a number or color. Once the number or color is chosen, the holder uses their fingers to switch between the two groups of colors and numbers inside the fortune teller. The holder switches these positions a number of times, determined by the number of letters in the color selected, the number originally chosen, or the sum of both. Once the holder has finished switching the positions of the fortune teller, the player chooses one of the flaps revealed.
These flaps often have colors or numbers on them. The holder then lifts the flap and reveals the fortune underneath. Steps may be repeated to suit the users.
1948: WHAM-O founded.
