When I was a kid, there were two or three toys I absolutely loved. One was the slingshot — my homemade version, of course; we were too poor to buy one — and my cousin’s “Slip ‘N Slide” water slide.
The guy who cofounded the company that started with slingshots and actually developed the “Slip ‘N Slide,” died Monday in California. Richard Kerr was 82. His childhood buddy who joined Kerr in founding the toy company company “Wham-O,” Arthur “Spud” Melin, died in 2002 at the age of 77.
Of course, the best known toys these guys came up with were the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee. They invented neither but found out about them, bought the rights, and turned them into million sellers remembered by everyone who lived in America during the 1950s and ’60s. Certainly, the Frisbee in many ways revolutionized American culture.
Personally, I never got the hang of the Hula Hoop. My wife claims she could do it, and that her sister was even better with the silly thing, but I could never get it to stay suspended around my waist.
So, I pause a moment today in tribute to a toy-making, marketing genius. He led a long life, apparently was quite successful, and I thank him and his partner for many, many hours of fun.
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