Hula hoop

This article is about the hula hoop toy. For the snack food, see Hula Hoops. The hula hoop is a toy hoop that promotes physical activity. Today it is often made of plastic and twirled around the waist or limbs.

History

Children around the world have always played with hoops, twirling, rolling and throwing them. Traditional materials for hoops have included grapevines and stiff grasses. In Egypt around 3000 years ago, hoops made out of grape vines were propelled around the ground with sticks. In ancient Greece their use was recommended for losing weight. In the 14th century, "hooping" was popular in England and medics blamed it for heart attacks and back dislocations. The word "hula" was added in the early 18th century as sailors who visited Hawaii noticed the similarity between hula dancing and hooping.

In 1957 the hula hoop was reinvented by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, who had founded the Wham-O company in a Los Angeles garage in 1948 to market the "Wham-O" slingshot (originally invented to shoot pieces of meat into the air, a training device for falcons). The idea came from a Californian who had visited Australia who told Knerr and Melin about children twirling bamboo hoops around the waist in gym class. So the new Hula Hoops were created with Marlex, a recently invented durable plastic (where the hoop hype helped as a kickstarter for Marlex production). Today the hula hoop is known as the biggest and most profitable fad of the 1950s.

Knerr and Medlin were unable to patent their vastly profitable "re-invention", as it had been in use for thousands of years; making the device out of a new material did not meet patent requirements of originality. They were largely able, however, to protect their invention by trademarking "Hula hoop", a name so bound to the fad toy that children were hardly interested in any other brand of plastic hoop.

After the hoop was released in 1958, Wham-O sold over 100 million in two years. This was referenced in the 1994 movie The Hudsucker Proxy by the Coen Brothers, which gives a fictional account of how it was created. As the fad burned out, Wham-O again struck lucky with the release of their Frisbee.

One famous hooper is Lori Lynn Lomeli.

Dance

A variety of dance forms have incorporated the hula hoop, and the hoop has inspired much original dancing.

A famous hoop dancer is Adriano Celentano.

Circus

The hula hoop emerged in the world of circus in the 1960s. Russian and Chinese artists took the hula hoop to extremes. These influenced contemporary circus artists like Australian circus comedienne and hula hoop historian Judith Lanigan, who choreographed the Dying Swan — "a mix of tragedy and hula hoops" — using 30 hula hoops. The Cirque de Soleil's "Alegria" features a spectacular hula hoop contortionist, which can be seen online ^*.

World Records

The first world record recorded for the hula hoop was by 8-year-old Mary Jane Freeze, who won a hooping endurance contest on August 19, 1976, by lasting 10:47 hours. The current record is held by Rosann Rose of the US, who went 90 hours between April 2 and April 6, 1987.

The record for the most hoops twirled simultaneously is 100, by Kareena Oates of Australia (June 4, 2005). The largest hoop successfully twirled was 15.3 meters (50.3 feet) in circumference, by Ashrita Furman of the USA (September, 2005). The record for simultaneous hula-hooping (minimum time: 2 minutes) is for 2,290 participants at Chung Cheng Stadium in Kaohsiung (Taiwan) on October 28, 2000.

Records for running while twirling a hula hoop around the waist are:

100m: 13.84 seconds, by Roman Schedler (Austria), July 16, 1994
1 mile: 7:47, by Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair (USA), date unknown
10 km, men: 1:06:35, by Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair (USA), date unknown
10 km, women: 1 hour 43 minutes, by Betty (Shurin) Hoops (USA), date unknown

In 2000, Roman Schedler spun a 53-pound tractor tire for 71 seconds at the 5th Saxonia Record Festival in Bregenz, Austria.

Today

The past few years have seen the re-emergence of hula hooping, spread by fans of jambands like The String Cheese Incident and attendees of Burning Man. These 21st century hoopers are making their own (much larger and heavier) hoops out of polyethylene tubing. These hoops are usually covered in a fabric or plastic tape to ease the amount of work in keeping a hoop twirling around the dancer, and can be very colorful, utilizing glow-in-the dark, patterned, or sparkling tape.

External links

The Hula Hoop a comprehensive study of the true history of the hula hoop, its use in circus, health benefits and how to hula hoop from beginners to advanced separations and manipulations
Hooping.org is dedicated to the emerging hula hooping community. Includes a weblog, photos, discussion boards and information about classes and other hooping events.
Hula Hoop history - A timeline
Hula-Hoop Manufacturer - Wholesale supplier
Hoopgirl - Christabel Zamor - Classes and Performance Schedules, Specialized Hoops
Manadala Hoops- Classes, Custom Hoops and Videos
Hoopclass- Aerobic Hoopclasses (NYC) & Custom Exercise Actionhoops

References

mit-inventions
about.com-inventors
Wham-O
NPR: Hula Hooping Gets Groovy Again (audio podcast)
Great Hooping Videos

National Toy Hall of Fame | 1950s fads | Physical activity and dexterity toys