Wham-O

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Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox company 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, Wham-O Bird Ornithopter, and Boogie Board,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> many of which have become genericized trademarks.

Corporate history

Richard Knerr (1925–2008<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) and Arthur "Spud" Melin (1924–2002<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), two University of Southern California graduates who were friends since their teens, were unhappy with their jobs and decided to start their own business. In 1948, they formed the WHAM-O Manufacturing Company in the Knerr family garage in South Pasadena.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their first product was the Wham-O Slingshot, made of ash wood, which Knerr and Melin promoted by holding demonstrations of their own slingshot skills. The name "Wham-O" was inspired by the sound of the slingshot's shot hitting the target.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The powerful slingshot was adopted by clubs for competitive target shooting and small game hunting.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> When they outgrew the garage, Knerr and Melin rented a building on S. Marengo Ave in Alhambra, California. In 1955, they moved their manufacturing plant to neighboring San Gabriel, California, where they remained until 1987, when they sold the plant to Huy Fong Foods.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Products and marketing

A Frisbee made by Wham-O

In 1958, Wham-O, still a fledgling company, took the idea of Australian bamboo "exercise hoops", manufactured them in Marlex, and called their new product the Hula Hoop.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> The name had been used since the 18th century, but until then was not registered as a trademark.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It became the biggest toy fad in modern history.<ref name="brymer2008">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Olson2000">Template:Cite book</ref> 25 million were sold in four months, and in two years sales reached more than 100 million.<ref name="St. James Press">Template:Cite book</ref> "Hula Hoop mania" continued through the end of 1959, and netted Wham-O $45 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/yearTemplate:Inflation/fn).

Shortly thereafter, the company had another huge success with the Frisbee. In 1955, inventor Fred Morrison began marketing a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter. He sold the design to Wham-O on January 23, 1957. By June they had learned that students back east were calling them a "Frisbee." In early 1958, Wham-O added the name "Frisbee" to the top of the Pluto Platter <ref>"Flat Flip Flies Straight, True Origins of the Frisbee" Fred Morrison & Phil Kennedy 2006</ref>– and once again a Wham-O toy became a common part of life through the 1960s.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />

In the early 1960s, Wham-O created the Super Ball, a high-bouncing ball made of a hard elastomer Polybutadiene alloy, dubbed Zectron, with a 0.92 coefficient of restitution when bounced on hard surfaces. Around 20 million Super Balls were sold that decade, and the NFL named the Super Bowl games after it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Frisbee and Hula Hoop created fads. With other products, Wham-O tried to capitalize on existing national trends. In the 1960s, they produced a US$119 do-it-yourself bomb shelter cover. In 1962, they sold a limbo dance kit to take advantage of that fad; and in 1975, when the movie Jaws was released, they sold plastic shark teeth.<ref name=":1" />

Many products were not successful. During an African safari in the early 1960s, Melin discovered a species of fish that laid eggs in the mud during Africa's dry season. When the rains came, the eggs hatched and fish emerged overnight. This inspired Melin to create the Template:Visible anchor product, an aquarium kit consisting of some of the fish eggs, and some mud in which to hatch them.<ref name=":0" />

Other products

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Vintage Blue and white Wham-O Magic Window toy from the 1970s

Strategy

Knerr and Melin marketed their products directly to children, including demonstrating their toys at playgrounds. They extensively researched new product ideas, including traveling around the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "If Spud and I had to say what we contributed," Knerr said, "it was fun. But I think this country gave us more than we gave it. It gave us the opportunity to do it."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

For many years, the company's strategy was to maintain eight to twelve simple, inexpensive products such as Frisbees, Super Balls, and Hula Hoops. New products were developed for tryout periods. Old ones were retired, for a few years or permanently, as their popularity waned. Since the toys were simple and inexpensive, they could be sold by a wide range of retailers, from large Department Stores to five and dime stores.

As Wham-O changed ownership, its new management adjusted this formula to accommodate the changing toy industry, which had increasingly complex toys and fewer distribution channels.

By 2006 Wham-O's product line included several groups of related items using licensed brand names. For example, Sea-Doo is a brand of personal water craft owned by Bombardier; Wham-O makes a Sea-Doo line of small inflatable rafts designed to be towed behind watercraft.

The company's lines are also more complex, and grouped in related categories—for example, the Sea-Doo line (about a dozen products), several Slip 'N Slide variations, and a group of "lawn games".

On January 31, 2011, Wham-O announced an agreement with ICM, the agency representing Atari video games, to represent Wham-O in movies, television, music, and online content based around its toys.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Company timeline

Frisbee political campaign advertisement designed by San Francisco-based advertising executive Bob Gardner of Gardner Communications as part of U.S. President Gerald Ford's 1976 advertising team and given to Ford at the 1976 Republican National Convention.<ref name="Garner">Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, Gardner's company also held the Frisbee advertising account.<ref name="Garner"/>
  • 1948: WHAM-O founded. For about a year in the 1950s, the company markets their sporting goods under the name WAMO.
  • 1957: WHAM-O acquires the rights to the Pluto Platter from Fred Morrison and renames it Frisbee.
  • 1958: Hula Hoop introduced<ref name="St. James Press"/>
  • 1958: Frisbee sales improve
  • 1961: Slip 'N' Slide introduced
  • 1965: Super Ball introduced
  • 1982: Wham-O purchased by Kransco Group Companies
  • 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
  • January 2006: Wham-O is sold for ~ US$80 million to Cornerstone Overseas Investment Limited, a Chinese company that owns or controls five factories in China. The same month, Wham-O donated the office files, photographs and films of Dan "Stork" Roddick, Wham-O's director of sports promotion from 1975 to 1994, to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection.
  • 2008: Founder Richard Knerr dies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 2010: Wham-O acquires Sprig Toys Inc.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • 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.

References

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