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Wham-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory
Wham-O's irresistible toys practically define childhood for an entire generation. The Frisbee, Hula Hoop, SuperBall, Slip 'N Slide, Silly String, and Hacky Sack are all cherished companions that brought kids together and still enjoy an enduring popularity today. Super-Book ("the most fantastic book ever created by science") showcases these amazing toys and a wide array of entertaining and downright odd playthings dreamed up by a company started by two childhood friends. Released in time for the 60th anniversary of Wham-O and featuring an engaging history of each plaything, colorful vintage packaging and ads, as well as photographs of the toys, this boisterous book is sure to inspire nostalgia and a trip to the nearest park, Frisbee in hand.
- GenresNonfiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
22 people want to read
About the author
Tim Walsh
3 booksTIM WALSH is a professional speaker, author, game designer and filmmaker. His first book, Timeless Toys (Andrews-McMeel, 2005) was praised by The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. His second, WHAM-O Super-Book (Chronicle Books, 2008) was picked by NPR as “One of the best gift books of the year.” His third, Right Brain Red: 7 Ideas for Creative Success, was written with super-entrepreneur Reyn Guyer. As a play advocate, Tim is out to prove play is a means through which we connect with family and friends. Now more than ever…. amen to that!
A 30-year veteran of the toy industry. His designs and co-designs of games have sold over 7 million copies in 13 countries and include the games TriBond, Blurt, Mad Gab, Feed Fuzzy, Bull’s Eye, Mega Mouth and many more. He’s appeared on numerous TV and radio shows including CBS’s The Early Show, NPR’s All Things Considered, This Way Up (New Zealand), Top 100 Toys (BBC), and CNBC’s The Big Idea, among others.
Tim also creates video for his YouTube Channel, Seize the Play where his popular series, Where’s the Fun From? tells the stories behind the most popular playthings of all time.
A 30-year veteran of the toy industry. His designs and co-designs of games have sold over 7 million copies in 13 countries and include the games TriBond, Blurt, Mad Gab, Feed Fuzzy, Bull’s Eye, Mega Mouth and many more. He’s appeared on numerous TV and radio shows including CBS’s The Early Show, NPR’s All Things Considered, This Way Up (New Zealand), Top 100 Toys (BBC), and CNBC’s The Big Idea, among others.
Tim also creates video for his YouTube Channel, Seize the Play where his popular series, Where’s the Fun From? tells the stories behind the most popular playthings of all time.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 14, 2009
I've read yet another business biography, this having to do with the California toy company, Wham-O.
The author chronicles 60 years of the company's existence, focusing mainly on the abundance of fun products that were produced over the decades. For Wham-O's most famous products (Frisbee, Hula-Hoop and Super-Ball) we get background information about how these toys were developed, tested and marketed. There is also a general overview how the company slowly developed over time & successfully adapted to the ever-changing market.
The chapters are divided by the type of product Wham-O produced, which is handy in a chronological sense as they changed their focus a few times in the early years. Their first big product was a simple slingshot and was the beginning of an era of sportsman's products which also offered knives, steel tomahawks and blowguns.
That eventually lead them to making sporting games such as Tether Ball, badminton and Trac-Ball. One of their exercise products was the Hula-Hoop, a toy that eventually dominated 1958. It is also at this same time they had bought the rights to the Pluto Platter, which they would later rename the Frisbee since that's what all the East Coast kids called it anyway.
In the 60's they developed different toys that rolled or flew, and the 70's brought toys that worked with water such as the Slip 'n Slide or the Water Wiggle. Also off the production line were remarkable new things such as Superelasticbubbleplastic, Monster Magnet, Silly String and the Magic Window. The Super-Ball came out in 1965 and sold over six million the first year. One amusing story concerns the experimental manufacture of bowling ball-sized Super-Balls and why they quickly learned to produce no more of those.
We get a little bit of background about the two founders of the company, and why they decided to sell-out Wham-O's in its 44th year. The author then follows the Wham-O product line as it is sold back and forth amongst a number of entities.
Besides the healthy overview, the book also greatly benefits from a great abundance of pictures and graphics. Wham-O products tended to be promoted in a sensationalistic manner, and this book does not hold back on the brightly colored graphics and wild product claims that helped make Wham-O feel so fun!
This book was intended for the bottom of my reading stack, but I found I could not resist reading it immediately. If you think you might be interested in the Wham-O Super-Book, then you will love the Wham-O Super Book.
The author chronicles 60 years of the company's existence, focusing mainly on the abundance of fun products that were produced over the decades. For Wham-O's most famous products (Frisbee, Hula-Hoop and Super-Ball) we get background information about how these toys were developed, tested and marketed. There is also a general overview how the company slowly developed over time & successfully adapted to the ever-changing market.
The chapters are divided by the type of product Wham-O produced, which is handy in a chronological sense as they changed their focus a few times in the early years. Their first big product was a simple slingshot and was the beginning of an era of sportsman's products which also offered knives, steel tomahawks and blowguns.
That eventually lead them to making sporting games such as Tether Ball, badminton and Trac-Ball. One of their exercise products was the Hula-Hoop, a toy that eventually dominated 1958. It is also at this same time they had bought the rights to the Pluto Platter, which they would later rename the Frisbee since that's what all the East Coast kids called it anyway.
In the 60's they developed different toys that rolled or flew, and the 70's brought toys that worked with water such as the Slip 'n Slide or the Water Wiggle. Also off the production line were remarkable new things such as Superelasticbubbleplastic, Monster Magnet, Silly String and the Magic Window. The Super-Ball came out in 1965 and sold over six million the first year. One amusing story concerns the experimental manufacture of bowling ball-sized Super-Balls and why they quickly learned to produce no more of those.
We get a little bit of background about the two founders of the company, and why they decided to sell-out Wham-O's in its 44th year. The author then follows the Wham-O product line as it is sold back and forth amongst a number of entities.
Besides the healthy overview, the book also greatly benefits from a great abundance of pictures and graphics. Wham-O products tended to be promoted in a sensationalistic manner, and this book does not hold back on the brightly colored graphics and wild product claims that helped make Wham-O feel so fun!
This book was intended for the bottom of my reading stack, but I found I could not resist reading it immediately. If you think you might be interested in the Wham-O Super-Book, then you will love the Wham-O Super Book.
January 14, 2010
Fascinating look at a company that created some of our favorite childhood toys. I wasn't aware of just how many classic toys were Wham-O products which include the Hula-hoop, Silly Putty, Frisbee, Slip'n Slide, Super-ball, Silly String, Hacky Sack, and more. Many of the names you might not recognize, but you'd probably recognize the product. A huge quantity of their products are still available.
Walsh gives a history of the more important products and a general overview of the less successful ones. He even touches on the ridiculous ideas like Poke-a-bone where you try to catch vertabrae-like bones on a longer bone and the Mystical Mad Mirror which twisted your face and the face of a friend into one.
The book feels fairly objective and factual, although it's clear Walsh thinks Wham-O is fab. For products like Frisbees that Wham-O didn't really invent but just made famous, Walsh gives a history of how Wham-O came to own the copyright for them. It's illustrated with actual product packaging, ads and photos of workers assembling items and the founders enjoying them. The crazy miasma of information and visually flamboyant graphics is migraine-inducing but quite appropriate for the subject matter.
I would have liked an index and the table of contents looked just like one of the ads so, while cool, was hard to read. There is a time-line in the back which is useful as a list of all the products the company sold.
All in all a fun nostalgic read.
Walsh gives a history of the more important products and a general overview of the less successful ones. He even touches on the ridiculous ideas like Poke-a-bone where you try to catch vertabrae-like bones on a longer bone and the Mystical Mad Mirror which twisted your face and the face of a friend into one.
The book feels fairly objective and factual, although it's clear Walsh thinks Wham-O is fab. For products like Frisbees that Wham-O didn't really invent but just made famous, Walsh gives a history of how Wham-O came to own the copyright for them. It's illustrated with actual product packaging, ads and photos of workers assembling items and the founders enjoying them. The crazy miasma of information and visually flamboyant graphics is migraine-inducing but quite appropriate for the subject matter.
I would have liked an index and the table of contents looked just like one of the ads so, while cool, was hard to read. There is a time-line in the back which is useful as a list of all the products the company sold.
All in all a fun nostalgic read.
August 2, 2015
While I was in the research and planning phase for my book on the history of the Easy-Bake Oven, I considered including a section on the various “knock-offs” that were produced by other toy companies in an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Kenner’s toy oven. Although that chapter didn't make it into the book, it's an interesting topic – there were a number of interesting alternative baking products from companies like Argo Industries, Coleco, Topper Toys, and WHAM-O.
Yes, that’s correct, WHAM-O, the company behind numerous pop culture hits, including Silly String, Hacky Sack, and my personal favorite, the Slip ‘n Slide. In 1998, the company procured licensing agreements from Nestle, Kraft and Baskin-Robbins to release a short-lived line of food activity toys, including the JELL-O Frozen Treat Maker and the Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Factory. This detour into the world of food play toys piqued my interest and led me to discover the WHAM-O Super Book – Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun by Tim Walsh.
Walsh’s previous editorial endeavor, Timeless Toys – Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them is a staple on my toy history bookshelf, so I was excited to see what he’d do in a 181-page book devoted to the history of a single company. Boy, does he deliver!
The book deftly chronicles the first 60 years of the California toy company’s existence. Buoyed by interviews with one of WHAM-O’s two original founders, Rich Kneer, and his daughter Lori, Walsh provides first-person accounts behind the development, testing and marketing behind some of the company’s most trend-setting products, including the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and Super Ball.
A large part of WHAM-O’s successful development can be attributed to the family-style atmosphere of the company and the strong relationship between Kneer and his co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin. Walsh effectively weaves the theme of family and friendship throughout the book, culminating with the sale of the company in 1982, after 32 years.
Chapters are loosely organized based on the type of products that WHAM-O produced, including sporting goods, water toys, and stuff sold in those over-the-top ads seen in the back of comic books. Pouring over these chapters makes one realize the true depth and breadth of the company’s product line. WHAM-O not only set trends but also was able to adapt to the ever-changing marketplace – nimble enough to put out products in an on-going attempt to capture the attention (and $$$) of the general public.
Of course, no toy company has a 100% success rate, and this fact is half the fun in the book. Walsh doesn’t white-wash WHAM-O’s marketplace misses, but rather offers them up as proof positive that the company was willing to take risks and even indulge in some of the head-scratching whims of the two founders.
For the visually inclined like me, the book is chock full of product photography, illustrations and vintage advertising. WHAM-O tended to pile on the superlatives in their advertising in an often sensationalistic manner and the book runs with this, right down to its cover: “The most fantastic book ever create by science!” and “It’s almost alive!”
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure my WHAM-O Instant Fish are fed and then indulge my creativity using the “fascinating volcanic-action” of my WHAM-O Magic Window.
Yes, that’s correct, WHAM-O, the company behind numerous pop culture hits, including Silly String, Hacky Sack, and my personal favorite, the Slip ‘n Slide. In 1998, the company procured licensing agreements from Nestle, Kraft and Baskin-Robbins to release a short-lived line of food activity toys, including the JELL-O Frozen Treat Maker and the Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Factory. This detour into the world of food play toys piqued my interest and led me to discover the WHAM-O Super Book – Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun by Tim Walsh.
Walsh’s previous editorial endeavor, Timeless Toys – Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them is a staple on my toy history bookshelf, so I was excited to see what he’d do in a 181-page book devoted to the history of a single company. Boy, does he deliver!
The book deftly chronicles the first 60 years of the California toy company’s existence. Buoyed by interviews with one of WHAM-O’s two original founders, Rich Kneer, and his daughter Lori, Walsh provides first-person accounts behind the development, testing and marketing behind some of the company’s most trend-setting products, including the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and Super Ball.
A large part of WHAM-O’s successful development can be attributed to the family-style atmosphere of the company and the strong relationship between Kneer and his co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin. Walsh effectively weaves the theme of family and friendship throughout the book, culminating with the sale of the company in 1982, after 32 years.
Chapters are loosely organized based on the type of products that WHAM-O produced, including sporting goods, water toys, and stuff sold in those over-the-top ads seen in the back of comic books. Pouring over these chapters makes one realize the true depth and breadth of the company’s product line. WHAM-O not only set trends but also was able to adapt to the ever-changing marketplace – nimble enough to put out products in an on-going attempt to capture the attention (and $$$) of the general public.
Of course, no toy company has a 100% success rate, and this fact is half the fun in the book. Walsh doesn’t white-wash WHAM-O’s marketplace misses, but rather offers them up as proof positive that the company was willing to take risks and even indulge in some of the head-scratching whims of the two founders.
For the visually inclined like me, the book is chock full of product photography, illustrations and vintage advertising. WHAM-O tended to pile on the superlatives in their advertising in an often sensationalistic manner and the book runs with this, right down to its cover: “The most fantastic book ever create by science!” and “It’s almost alive!”
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure my WHAM-O Instant Fish are fed and then indulge my creativity using the “fascinating volcanic-action” of my WHAM-O Magic Window.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews