View source for Wham-O

{{short description|American toy company}}
{{more citations needed|date = January 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Wham-O Toys Inc.
| logo = Wham-O Logo.png
| image = Wham-O Headquarters.jpg
| image_caption = Wham-O headquarters in Carson, California
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| founder = Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin
| area_served = 
| key_people = 
| industry = [[Toy]]s
| genre = 
| products = 
| services = 
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 
| parent = 
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| footnotes = 
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1948|df=yes}}
| location = 966 Sandhill Ave, [[Carson, California]], U.S.
| locations = <!--# of locations-->
| origins = 
| caption = 
| homepage = {{url|wham-o.com/}}
| dissolved = 
}}
'''Wham-O Inc.''' is an American toy company based in [[Carson, California|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>{{cite web|url=http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/industrynews.asp |title=Toy Industry News! |publisher=Toydirectory.com |access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref> many of which have become [[genericized trademark]]s.

==Corporate history==
[[Richard Knerr]] (1925–2008<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-knerr17jan17-story.html|title=Richard Knerr, 82; co-founded Wham-O, maker of the Hula Hoop and Frisbee|last=Nelson|first=By Valerie J.|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=17 January 2008|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref>) and Arthur "Spud" Melin (1924–2002<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jul/06/guardianobituaries.veronicahorwell|title=Obituary: Arthur Melin|last=Horwell|first=Veronica|date=2002-07-06|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-30}}</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, California|South Pasadena]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Detroit News Subscription Offers, Specials, and Discounts |url=https://subscribe.detroitnews.com/restricted |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=subscribe.detroitnews.com}}</ref> Their first product was the Wham-O [[Slingshot]], made of [[Fraxinus|ash wood]], which Knerr and Melin promoted by holding [[exhibition shooting|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">{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=2008-01-18 |title=Richard Knerr, 82, Craze Creator, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/business/18knerr.html |access-date=2025-07-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The powerful slingshot was adopted by clubs for competitive target shooting and small game hunting.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Mechanix Illustrated |title=Return of the Giant Killer |date=April 1951 |author=Robert Hertzberg |url=http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/01/12/return-of-the-giant-killer/ |archive-date=2012-03-09 |access-date=2011-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309123631/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/01/12/return-of-the-giant-killer/ |url-status=dead }}</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">{{Cite web |last=X |date=2008-01-17 |title=Co-founder of toy firm Wham-O, maker of the Hula Hoop and Frisbee |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jan-17-me-knerr17-story.html |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Products and marketing==
[[File:Frisbee 090719.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A Frisbee made by Wham-O]]
In 1958, Wham-O, still a fledgling company, took the idea of [[Australia]]n bamboo "exercise hoops", manufactured them in [[Marlex]], and called their new product the Hula Hoop.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Spelman |first=Michelle |date=2015-12-17 |title=In Memoriam: Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr – Co-Founders of WHAM-O |url=https://www.chitag.com/single-post/2015/12/17/in-memoriam-arthur-melin-and-richard-knerr-cofounders-of-whamo |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=CHITAG |language=en}}</ref> The name had been used since the 18th century, but until then was not registered as a trademark.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancient Inventions: The Evolution of the Hula Hoop |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/hula-hoop-history-1991893 |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> It became the biggest toy fad in modern history.<ref name="brymer2008">{{cite book|last=Brymer|first=Chuck |title=The nature of marketing: marketing to the swarm as well as the herd|url=https://archive.org/details/naturemarketingm00brym|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|page=[https://archive.org/details/naturemarketingm00brym/page/n219 22]|isbn=9780230203365 }}</ref><ref name="Olson2000">{{cite book|last=Olson|first=James Stuart|title=Historical dictionary of the 1950s|url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00olso_436|url-access=limited|year=2000|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00olso_436/page/n144 136]|isbn=9780313306198}}</ref> 25 million were sold in four months, and in two years sales reached more than 100 million.<ref name="St. James Press">{{cite book|title=International Directory of Company Histories|date=2004|publisher=St. James Press|edition=Vol.61}}</ref> "Hula Hoop mania" continued through the end of 1959, and netted Wham-O $45&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|45000000|1959}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}).

Shortly thereafter, the company had another huge success with the [[Frisbee]]. In 1955, inventor [[Walter Frederick Morrison|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 [[National Football League|NFL]] named the [[Super Bowl]] games after it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/super-bowl-owes-its-name-to-a-bouncy-ball |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104081546/https://www.history.com/news/super-bowl-owes-its-name-to-a-bouncy-ball|archivedate=January 4, 2015|title=Super Bowl Owes Its Name to a Bouncy Ball – History in the Headlines |publisher=History.com |date=2012-02-03 |access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref>

The Frisbee and Hula Hoop created [[fad]]s. 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 (film)|Jaws]] was released, they sold plastic [[shark]] teeth.<ref name=":1" />

Many products were not successful. During an [[Africa]]n 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 {{visible anchor|Instant Fish}} product, an aquarium kit consisting of some of the fish eggs, and some mud in which to hatch them.<ref name=":0" />

==Other products==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2012}}
[[File:Magic-window1d.jpg|thumb|Vintage Blue and white Wham-O Magic Window toy from the 1970s]]
* Wham-O Bird Ornithopter (1959) sold in a large cardboard box, ready to fly. Made of aluminum spars, wood, steel wire and mylar, it was brightly painted to resemble a hawk or owl. The retail price for the rubber-band-powered toy was $3 (about $24 in 2020 money). About 600,000 were made.
*[[Wheelie bars|Wheelie Bar]] (1966) for [[wheelie bike]]s, especially well suited for the popular [[Schwinn Sting-Ray]]. The [[packaging]] design, featuring 1960s character [[Rat Fink]], was widely reproduced on T-shirts, posters and decals. The [[television commercial]] featured [[Kathryn Minner]], the original [[Little Old Lady from Pasadena]].
* Air Blaster (1965), which shot a puff of air that could blow out a candle at 20 feet<ref>{{cite web |title=The Air Blaster by Wham-O |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxZu_Y_m8i4 |website=youtube |access-date=2 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Wham-O |url=http://www.wham-o.com/history.html |website=Wham-o.com |access-date=12 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218215421/http://www.wham-o.com:80/history.html |archive-date=18 February 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WHAM-O AIR BLASTER GUN AND TARGET SET. |url=https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/87755/WHAM-O-AIR-BLASTER-GUN-AND-TARGET-SET |website=Hake's |access-date=2 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Air Blaster Gun : Retro |url=http://www.skooldays.com/categories/toys/ty1114.htm |website=skooldays.com |access-date=2 December 2021}}</ref>
* Bubble Thing (1988), a flexible plastic strip attached to a wand, which was dipped in soap solution and waved through the air to create giant soap bubbles. Ads claimed it could make bubbles "as long as a bus".
* Huf'n Puf [[blowgun]] that shot soft rubber [[dart (missile)|dart]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/67810/12-lesser-known-wham-o-products-you-have-see-believe |title=12 Lesser-Known Wham-O Products You Have to See to Believe |publisher=Mental Floss |date=2015-08-27 |access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref>
* Real (non-toy) [[crossbow]]s, [[machete]]s, [[boomerang]]s and [[throwing knife|throwing knives]]<ref>p. 136 Walsh, Tim ''Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them'' Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1 Oct. 2005</ref><ref>p. 52 ''Popular Science'' Jan 1957</ref>
* Powermaster .22 caliber single-shot [[target pistol]], sold by mail order (1956),<ref>{{cite web|author=by B.B. Pelletier |url=http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2006/1/airgun-makers-that-spawned-firearms/ |title=Airgun makers that spawned firearms &#124; Air gun blog – Pyramyd Air Report |publisher=Pyramydair.com |date=2006-01-13 |access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref> and several other .22 caliber weapons
* [[Slip 'N Slide]] (1961), a carpet-like, water-lubricated sliding surface
* Water Wiggle (1962), a plastic-enclosed curved nozzle that, when powered by a garden hose, became airborne. Recalled in 1978 after it caused the deaths of two children, having sold approximately 2.5 million units.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/1978/Recall-Of-Wham-O-Water-Wiggle-Toy/|title=Recall of Wham-O Water Wiggle Toy|website=Cpsc.gov|access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref>
* Monster [[Magnet]] (1964)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlinesciencemall.com/monster-super-gorilla-giant-horseshoe-magnet-by-wham-o.html |title=Monster Super Gorilla Giant Horseshoe Magnet – by Wham-o |publisher=Onlinesciencemall.com |access-date=2016-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809232152/http://www.onlinesciencemall.com/monster-super-gorilla-giant-horseshoe-magnet-by-wham-o.html |archive-date=9 August 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Super Sneaky Squirtin' Stick (1964)<ref>{{cite web |author=Super Sneaky Squirtin Stick |url=https://inventively.com/search/trademarks/73131837 |title=Super Sneaky Squirtin Stick – Trademark #73131837, Owner: WHAM-O |publisher=Inventively.com |date=1978-01-24 |access-date=2016-08-03 |archive-date=2016-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611065737/https://inventively.com/search/trademarks/73131837 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Willie (1964), a furry toy snake<ref>p. 163 ''Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series'' 1965</ref>
* [[Super Stuff]] (1966)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldkc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=23 |title=View topic – Wham-O Super Stuff |publisher=OldKC.com |access-date=2016-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201011740/http://www.oldkc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=23 |archive-date=1 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Turbo Tube (1966)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1987/08/22/tubes-that-fly-wait-for-sales-to-soar/ |title=TUBES THAT FLY WAIT FOR SALES TO SOAR |date=August 22, 1987 |publisher=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=February 14, 2024}}</ref>
* Giant [[Comics]] (1967)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://majorspoilers.com/2013/03/31/retro-review-wham-o-giant-comics-1/ |title=RETRO REVIEW: Wham-O Giant Comics #1 (April 1967) |date=31 March 2013 |publisher=Major Spoilers |access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref>
* [[Silly String]] (1969)
* [[Super Elastic Bubble Plastic]] (1970)
* Magic Window (1971), two {{convert|30|x|30|cm|in}} oval plates of heavy clear plastic, with a narrow channel between them containing "microdium" (glass) crystal sands of varying colors that created complex patterns when shifted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phy.mtu.edu/alumni/history/BSGrads.html |title=MTU Physics – Alumni – Department History – Exhibits – BS Degrees |publisher=Phy.mtu.edu |access-date=2012-02-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magicwindows.org/ |title=Get Yourself a Magic Window, just like the popular 70's toy for all ages! |publisher=Magicwindows.org |access-date=2012-02-17 |archive-date=2012-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314102621/http://www.magicwindows.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>)
* [[Trac Ball|Trac-Ball]]
* [[Magic sand]] (1980), sand coated with a hydrophobic material that caused water to bead off of it rather than being absorbed
* [[Roller racer|Roller Racer Sit Skate]] (1983)
* [[Hacky Sack]], a [[footbag]] design purchased from its inventors in 1983
* [[Splatter Up]] (1990s)
* EZ SPIN Foam [[Frisbee]] Disc (2008),<ref>EZ SPIN Foam Frisbee Disc</ref> a soft version of the Frisbee that could be used indoors
* [https://moreybodyboards.com/ Morey] [[Bodyboarding#Prone]] [[Tom Morey]]
* [https://bzproboard.com/ BZ Pro Boards]
* [https://churchillswimfins.com/ Churchill Swimfins]
* [https://www.smacircle.com/ Smacircle], the world's smallest, lightest e-bike that fits into a backpack
* Wham-O Frisbee Sonic

==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>{{cite web|url=http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/2008/04/14/branding-in-historyfad-and-brand--whamo.aspx|title=Branding in History:Fad and Brand – Wham-O®|date=April 14, 2008|website=marketingdoctor.tv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216162234/http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv:80/2008/04/14/branding-in-historyfad-and-brand--whamo.aspx|archive-date=February 16, 2009|access-date=October 2, 2017}}</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>{{cite web|title=Wham-O — Nothin' But Fun|url=https://www.theattic.space/home-page-blogs/2019/5/2/wham-o-nothin-but-pure-fun|website=The Attic|access-date=10 May 2019|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510161159/https://www.theattic.space/home-page-blogs/2019/5/2/wham-o-nothin-but-pure-fun|url-status=dead}}</ref>

For many years, the company's strategy was to maintain eight to twelve simple, inexpensive products such as Frisbees, Super Balls, and [[Hula Hoop]]s. 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 Store]]s 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|brand names]]. For example, [[Sea-Doo (disambiguation)|Sea-Doo]] is a brand of [[personal water craft]] owned by [[Bombardier Inc.|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 Partners|ICM]], the agency representing Atari video games, to represent Wham-O in movies, television, music, and online content based around its toys.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/heat-vision/icm-signs-wham-o-toy-94676 | work=The Hollywood Reporter | first=Borys | last=Kit | title=EXCLUSIVE: ICM Signs Wham-O Toy Company}}</ref>

==Company timeline==
[[File:1976 campaign flying disc.JPG|thumb|right|250px|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">{{cite news|page=A18 |newspaper= [[San Francisco Examiner]] |date=November 19, 1992|title=Ad Executive Tells How Bush "Blew' Election Cites Failure To Come Up with a Coherent Message |author=John Jacobs }}</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&nbsp;million to [[Cornerstone Overseas Investment Limited]], a [[China|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>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/01/14/daily38.html|title=Wham-O co-founder Knerr dies at 82 – San Francisco Business Times|access-date=3 August 2016}}</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>{{cite web|url=http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6685536.html |title=Wham-O CEO sues over post-purchase ouster – 8/24/2009 10:01:00 AM – Playthings |access-date=2009-10-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827123130/http://www.playthings.com:80/article/CA6685536.html |archive-date=2009-08-27 }}</ref>
* 2010: Wham-O acquires Sprig Toys Inc.<ref>{{cite news | title=Nostalgia (and Frisbees) in the air at Wham-O| publisher=San Francisco Chronicle | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/08/MN3N1C6M1T.DTL| access-date=2010-03-08 | date=2010-03-08 | last=Said | first=Carolyn}}</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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://wham-o.com Wham-O Company website]
*[https://wfdf.sport/2011/04/timeline-of-early-history-of-flying-disc-play-1871-1995/ Flying Disc Time-Line]
*[[Ken Westerfield]] – ''history of Frisbee and disc sports''.

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Toy companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County, California]]
[[Category:Carson, California]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1948]]
[[Category:Toy companies established in 1948]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Privately held companies based in California]]