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The Hula Hoop turns 50 呼啦圈五十歲了！

Golfer Sam Snead gyrates with a Hula Hoop on a golf course in Miami Springs, Florida, US, on Oct. 28, 1958. 一九五八年十月二十八日，高球選手山姆．史尼德在美國佛州邁阿密泉市一個高爾夫球場上搖呼啦圈。 照片：美聯社 PHOTO: AP

Wham-O employees Hula Hoop in Emeryville, California, US, on June 18, 2008. 六月十八日，Wham-O公司的員工在美國加州的艾瑪里維爾搖呼啦圈。 照片：美聯社 PHOTO: AP

It’s hard to believe in an age of action-packed video games, but the Hula Hoop once was the hippest toy around.

The hoopla began 50 years ago when entrepreneurs Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin sought a trademark for a plastic cylinder based on a similar toy that had enjoyed modest success in Australia’s schoolyards.

Before long, the Hula Hoop had more hips swiveling than Elvis Presley.

Wham-O Inc., the company founded by Knerr and Melin, sold more than 100 million Hula Hoops after just a year on the US market.

The Hula Hoop became so ubiquitous that the former Soviet Union banned the toy as a symbol of the “emptiness of American culture.”

Not long after that, the Hula Hoop became a glaring example of the toy industry’s boom-and-bust cycles. Almost as quickly as they became a household staple, millions of Hula Hoops began collecting cobwebs in garages across the country.

“The Hula Hoop was the grandaddy of all fads,” said Chris Guirlinger, Wham-O’s vice president of marketing and licensing.

Hula Hoop’s downward spiral nearly ruined Wham-O.

Fortunately, the company had developed another offbeat toy — a flying disc called the Frisbee — that took off just as Hula Hoop sales plummeted.

Lori Gregory, Knerr’s daughter, said: “My father always believed the more simple a toy was, the better it was. If he brought home a toy and we couldn’t figure out how to play with it, he figured it wasn’t any good.”

Knerr died earlier this year. Melin, his friend since boyhood, died in 2002.

As for the Hula Hoop, it might be poised for another spurt in popularity. It’s one of the activities featured in a new Nintendo Wii video game promoting physical fitness.

(AP)

在這個充斥著緊張刺激電玩的年代，你很難相信呼啦圈曾是各地最時髦的玩具。

這種投環遊戲起源於五十年前，當時企業家理查．納爾和亞瑟．「馬鈴薯」．梅林以風行澳洲校園的一種類似玩具為靈感來源，設計出這種塑膠的圈環，並為其註冊商標。

不久後，呼啦圈就比貓王帶動更多人扭腰擺臀。

在美國上市短短一年，納爾和梅林創立的Wham-O公司就賣出超過一億個呼啦圈。

呼啦圈的高度普及，甚至讓前蘇聯政府下令禁止，因為他們認為這種玩具是「空洞的美國文化」的象徵。

此事發生後不久，呼啦圈便成為受到玩具產業景氣循環影響的顯著先例。差不多就在家家戶戶都有呼啦圈時，美國各地數百萬的呼啦圈開始被擱置在車庫裡生蜘蛛網。

Wham-O公司的行銷暨許可部副總裁克里斯．果林納說：「呼啦圈是所有三分鐘流行事物的始祖。」

呼啦圈的銷售情況持續惡化，幾乎要拖垮Wham-O公司。

幸運的是，這家公司又開發了另一種名為「Frisbee」的特殊飛盤玩具。就在呼啦圈的銷售急轉直下之際，這種飛盤迅速走紅。

納爾的女兒蘿麗．葛列格里說：「我父親一直認為愈簡單的玩具就是愈好的玩具，如果他帶回家的玩具我們都不知道該怎麼玩，他就會覺得它一點都不好。」

納爾今年稍早時過世，他的兒時玩伴梅林則在二ＯＯ二年辭世。

至於呼啦圈，可能已經準備好要再掀起一波熱潮，因為任天堂針對Wii遊戲機推出的一款新的健身遊戲中，呼啦圈就是其中一項運動。

（美聯社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 1. swivel v.i./v.t. 旋轉 (xuan2 zhuan3) 例: I swiveled my chair around to face Leanne. (我把椅子反轉過去面對黎安。) 2. ubiquitous adj. 普遍存在的 (pu3 pian4 cun2 zai4 de5) 例: Security cameras in Taiwan seem to be ubiquitous. (台灣好像到處都有安全監視器。) 3. downward spiral n. phr. 每況愈下 (mei3 kuang4 yu4 xia4) 例: Once he started using heroin, his life hit a downward spiral. (一旦他碰了海洛因，他的人生就會向下沉淪。) 4. plummet v.i. 急轉直下 (ji2 zhuan3 zhi2 xia4) 例: Henry lost his fortune when the stock market plummeted. (股市崩盤，讓亨利賠了一大筆錢。)

SAY WHAT? 說說看 collect cobwebs 生蜘蛛網／束之高閣 If an object sits around for a long time and isn’t used, one can say it collects cobwebs. For example, “Al always wants me to buy him the latest toy. But whenever I do, he ends up using it for a week and then gets bored with it. In the end, the toy just ends up collecting cobwebs in his closet.” An item that is a fad usually is only popular for a short period of time and later ends up collecting cobwebs. For example, “I wouldn’t buy those shoes. They’re a fad and will soon end up collecting cobwebs.” 如果一個物品放置了很長一段時間都沒有拿來使用，就可以說它「collect cobwebs」，例如：「埃爾總是要我買最新的玩具給他，但我每次買了之後，他都只玩一星期就膩了，結果就讓玩具放在衣櫥裡生蜘蛛網」。 「fad」就是只會短暫流行，時間過了就束之高閣的物品，例如：「我不會買那些鞋，它們只是一時流行，要不了多久就會被束之高閣」。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Hector: What are you doing? Rodrigo: I’m looking at flight prices on the Internet. I’m toying with the idea of going to Chile next year. Hector: Why Chile? Rodrigo: Andrew just got back from there and said he had a great time. Besides, I’ve never been to such a long country before. Hector: Well at least you’ve done your research and aren’t jumping into anything. 亥克特：你在做什麼？ 羅居葛：我在網路上查機票票價，我忽然想說我明年可以去智利玩。 亥克特：為什麼想去智利？ 羅居葛：安德魯才剛從那裡回來，他說那裡很好玩，而且我從沒去過那麼遠的國家。 亥克特：唔，至少你做了些�?A沒有一頭栽進去。 toy with something　隨便想想不把...當真 If somebody toys with something, he or she casually thinks about doing that thing. For example, “I’m toying with the idea of taking the roof off my deck and expanding the garden.” 如果某人「toy with something」，表示他或她只是無意間想到要做某事，例如：「我忽然想到可以把露天陽台的屋頂拆掉，擴建成花園」。

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