Wham-O is one of the companies responsible for making our childhood a success. Half of the toys they created would not fly today without them, and that is why they are so special. For those who don’t want to buy their children a toy gun, Wham O has an Air Blaster.
Wham-O occupied itself for years before the Frisbee came along and debuted one of the hottest toys of all time, the hula hoop. In 1957 the company launched the Frisbee flying disc and in 1958 the Hula Hoop, which quickly became one of the most popular toys in the world. In 1959, the company launched a modified version of the plastic flying disc called Pluto Platter, renamed “Frisbee,” which was the company’s toy that became a widespread part of life in the 1960s.
Wham-O was responsible for the development of three of the most popular toys of the 1950s: the slingshot, the hula hoop, and the frisbee. Established in 1948 by friends and business partners Rich Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin, the company is best known for entertainment products such as the Hula Hoop, Frisbee, Hacky Sack, and Slip-N-Slide. In 1957, the young company Wham-Os took up the idea of an Australian bamboo fitness tire, produced it with Marlex, and named its product by the now known HULA Hoop.
Kransco was a private company based in San Francisco that manufactured toys and sporting goods. In 1994 Kransco sold Wham-O to Mattel, Inc. (now Mattel), the world’s leading toy manufacturer.
Wham-O bought the rights to reconstruct the Pluto plate, a flying disc invented and sold by Walter Frederick Morrison on his station wagon on the California coast, and gave it a floating, flying saucer-like quality and renamed it, Frisbee. In 1958, the year the toy was first released, the Wham-o Toy Company changed its name to “Frisbee Disc” (later mistakenly referred to as the Frisbie Pie Company).
After 50 years of producing and selling outdoor products for spring and summer, Wham-O began expanding into winter sports with a range of sledges, snow saucers, snow boogie foam sheets, and built-in water bodies. This gave classic Wham O brands to the new company: Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Hacky Sack, Mattel watersports and bodyboard lines, Morey Boogie, Churchill, Swimfin, Aviva, and Water Toys. One of the toy lines, the Frisbee / Hula Hoop / Hacky Sack, was the first acquisition of a ball company to start producing the Super Ball.
The company had a huge success with the Frisbee. On 23 January 1957, the toy company Wham-O rolled out the first batch of aerodynamic plastic discs known as the Frisbee to millions of fans around the world. If you learn about the history of frisbees and golf, you will find that the name “Frisbee” is a trademark of the toy company Wham O.
Wham-O, Inc. is known for developing and distributing many popular toys dating back over 70 years, including hula hoop, frisbee, slip-n-slide, super ball, trap-ball, Silly String, Hacky Sack, Wham-o-Bird, ornithopter, and boogie board, many of which have been generalized and trademarked. The terms Kleenex, Jello, and Frisbee have been generalized into the circular flying disc known as the generic name of the toy company Wham O.
Wham-O got its name from the sound produced by its original product, the slingshot, introduced by two USC alumni Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin in 1948. They chose “Slingshot” as the product name because the “Wham-O” sound was created when the product was first used.
After 60 years of producing consumer products destined for fun, play, and sport, Wham-O has launched many well-known toys brands that continue to be enjoyed by children and adults alike. The company, founded 75 years ago, has sold more than 300 toys and games to more than 85 countries. Wham O, Inc., maker of Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Silly String, and Slip-N-Slide toys is at his best when he bounces with his famous invention more than a Superball. Many of their toys promote physical activity and they have become known as one of the most classic and well-made toys of all time. The turbo tubes of the space age saw a lot of toys flying, and some of them contained gems from Wham!
The career of Richard Knerr and his partner Arthur “Spud” Melin, who founded the Wham-O toy company in 1948 and died in Arcadia, California at the age of 82, is a testament to the power of the creative impulse to change many people’s lives. But by any historical standard, the company’s innovations pale in comparison to those of the discovery of polio vaccine or the development of the world wide web.
So in conclusion, Wham-O, Inc. is an American toys company based in Carson, California, USA. In December 1997, Wham O Inc. The acquisition was arranged by Charterhouse Group International, Inc., an investment firm with stakes in other toys and companies in many different industries. Charterhouse was a management group that spent $20 million to take the company private and buy Mattels’ sports division.