I was looking at a digital copy of our 8mm home movies shot in the 1960s. This brief clip brought back memories of the hula hoop craze in the late 1950s. The things were all over the place: schools incorporated them into recess and PE programs; Life magazine loved to run hula hoop pictures, and Brothers Mark and David had to give them a go in our back yard.
Wikipedia has a pretty good history of the hula hoop.
Here’s a hooping video
Our two hoops were part of the more than 50,000 hula hoops that were being produced every day at the height of the craze.
P.S. This is a silent movie. Turning up the volume isn’t going to help.
Wonderful look into the past…My Mom was very good with a Hula Hoop…the rest to the family, Me and Dad, not so much…
Hope you guys are having a great Holiday weekend.
I remember mine being a neon green color. Those of us who were younger/klutzier couldn’t manage twirling them around the waist or hips, so we used the hoops jump-rope fashion.
Way back in 1959 our neighbor bought a Hula Hoop (by Whammo) for his 8 year daughter for the princely sum of $1.00. They were a brand new concept and the hottest toy I remember. She couldn’t keep it going.We eventually got one and my brother Jim and I quickly tore it to shreds. Ah, those were the days.
Enjoyed this look back at childhood. I could do hula hoop, but not exceptionally. But, my 47 year old daughter can do it perfectly!!
Thank you for your blog. My very good friend of many years who grew up in Cape has convinced me to join myself, instead of flying on his coattails. I am enjoying it very much!
Preceded in 1955, of course, by the Pluto Platter, N/K/A Frisbee
HI,
Ken, thanks for the hula hoop memory. My favorite one was a pretty, IRISH green, and I could move that thing–100 years ago or so.
I deeply appreciate you jogging my memory for times past; or, more fittingly–Remembrance of Things Past!
God blessed you with talent.
Sheila