Frisbee, Hula Hoop Inventor Richard Knerr Dies at Age 82

On Monday January 14, famous inventor Richard Knerr who created the Frisbee and hula hoop died after suffering a stroke. Knerr was 82.

Richard Knerr first started as an inventor from his home garage where he and his longtime friend Arthur Melin created the hula hoop in 1958. Once his product took off, Knerr started his own company called Wham-O. In the first year of the Hula Hoops being massed produced, 40 million were bought by customers and over 100 million were bought by 1960. By the 1970s, the Hula hoops fad among youngsters had faded and the company almost went bankrupt due to poor business management and a large excess of unsold Hula Hoops.

By 1975, the Wham-O company would strike it rich with the invention of the Frisbee which became the newest fad and sold millions as well. Although Richard Knerr is most famous for his inventions of the Frisbee and Hula hoop, he also created the super bouncy ball, the slip N slide, the Limbo Game and silly string. Young children's games were Knerr's forte and he had great success with almost all of his inventions.

Knerr's career first took off after he graduated business school from the University of Southern California. Knerr and his partner Melin started out trying to invent sporting gadgets like slingshots, crossbows and boomerangs.

The inspiration for the Frisbee was traced back to Yale University where students were tossing around a pie tie made by the Pie Frisbee Company. However, despite the pie company's name, Knerr insisted he got the name of Frisbee from a comic strip character named Mr. Frisbee. Inspiration for the hula Hoop came after their trip to Australia where they saw a wooden hoop being spun using a person's hips.

1982 Richard Knerr and Arthur Melin sold the Wham-O company to Kransco Group Co. for $12 million. Years later the company would be sold to Mattel and then to an investors group.

Richard Knerr's inventions had far reaching effects. Children everywhere around the world play with Knerr's gadgets and it had given children a source of entertainment during their childhood.

I still remember playing ultimate Frisbee with friends at the park or during my days in high school and college. Slip N Slide has remained a popular game amongst children during the hot summer days. Hula hoop competitions still exist for Guinness world records and girls love playing with the invention.