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.
PHOTO: AP
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.
PHOTO: AP
“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）
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