Frisbee

As a kid, in my parent’s car – in addition to Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum to avert the inevitable bout of car sickness – we would always have a Frisbee in a door compartment or the boot. A country walk, a trip to the beach or a camping holiday would always feature some time to rest up and any combination of the four of us would start flicking the Frisbee.

I have no understanding of the science but I can very happily recommended Wrigley’s iconic Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum as an effective car sickness prevention that I was plagued by as a kid. Try it for yourself by clicking the following AMAZON link

Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit (box of 14)

As we got older we started getting cocky about using the wind to bank the Frisbee, like a boomerang, catching it on one finger and attempting to keep it spinning. Often a disaster would result. I have memories of rowing a small Campari inflateable dingy out to sea to recover a red Frisbee that had banked too steeply and crashed into the ocean. On other occasions our dog, “Kimbo” would be come overawed by the flying disc that he’d catch it and run away to knaw it in a quiet corner.

Not only a classic design icon of an earlier era there was a simplicity to its design and feel that has left an indelibale mark on several generations of users and has spawned competitive sports, particularly in the US, with Ultimate Frisbee, Freestyle Frisbee and Frisbee Golf.

On 23rd January 1957 Wham-O Toys Inc. a company founded in 1948 and based in Carson (California) started to make plastic discs that became known as “Frisbees”.

The idea was not wholly original. Aside from the Discus of 8th century BC Ancient Greece, the aerodynamic discs were based on empty tin pie cases as used, since 1871, by William Frisbie’s of the Frisbie Pie Company initially of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Legend has it that local universtity students – that included Yale, Princeton, Amherst and Dartmouth – would throw these Frisbie pie cases – that had the name “Frisbie Pies” embossed on the base.

In the late 1940’s, Fred Morrison and Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc and following his split from Franscioni, in 1957, Morrison, having made further improvements, sold the intellectual property rights in the plastic discs, then called “Pluto Platter”, to Wham-O. In 1958, Wham-O changed the name to the Frisbee disc and, following the addition of concentric ribs on the top surface for stability, patent protection was applied for in 1967. Sales really took off in 1959.

By 1977 over 100m units had been sold and in 1994 Mattel Toys acquired Kransco, the company that had acquired the rights to Wham-O and the official Frisbee in 1982. In 1997 a group of investors re-purchased Wham-O from Mattel, it was subsequently sold in 2006 to a Chinese group and, in 2015, Stallion Sports and InterSports Corporation acquired global rights to Wham-O.

See this very early WHAM-O Toys commercial for the Frisbee – Original Frisbee Commercial

If you’d like to buy original Frisbees please click the following links:

Wham-O Freestyle Frisbee HDX Lid´ 165g – Transparent

Wham-O Malibu frisbee 110g blue

Disc Ultimate – Wham-O – Frisbee The Original Since 1958, white/red

And for those who are already Frisbee crazy how about a T shirt or two?

 

Hippowarehouse Frisbee Evolution Unisex Short Sleeve t-Shirt (Specific Size Guide In Description)

Eat Sleep Frisbee – Mens T-Shirt-Royal Blue-Large

Wham-O also own the Morey brand name of bodyboards. Please see here our previous post on Morey – Morey Boogie boardsof which I am a huge fan and still use their boards today.

We understand that in 2016, Dan O’Connor, a local Frisbee player and historian realised a thirty year dream of resurrecting the Frisbie brand when he was granted certain rights to use the name “Frisbie Pie Co” that has ceased to bake in 1956. In November 2016, O’Connor, who had discovered an old Frisbie recipe book at an estate sale, began making, distributing and selling pies in the Bridgeport (CT.) region.

If you liked this post please “Like” and share it with your friends. We’d really like to hear your experiences of the subject(s) featured in this post. Please share them below in the “Leave a Reply” section. Thanks

Image Credits – grateful thanks to Wham-O Toys Inc and the Frisbie Pie Company.

Pringles

I challenge you to ask friends which is their favourite flavour of “Pringles” and you will not find anyone who refuses to answer. Why, because everyone likes Pringles! They are an iconic American classic stackable crisps.

In the animated film “Over The Hedge” when RJ, the streetwise character voiced by Bruce Willis, opens a packet of Nacho Chips. Combined with a slow motion effect similar to the fallout of a nuclear explosion his audience breathes in the alluring scent: “Hammy“: [after RJ opens the packet] What is THHAAAT!? RJ: That, my friend, is a magical combination of corn flour, dehydrated cheese solids, BHA, BHT and good old MSG a.k.a. the Chip – Nacho Cheese flavour.

I often think that my reaction to Pringle’s “Paprika” and “Sour Cream and Onion” is similar. Have you opened a Pringles tube on a plane at cruising height? The expanded air inside the tube swells and the silver seal (first used in the 1980’s) becomes difficult to dislodge. Once it’s off your neighbours will enjoy the wonderful aroma that fills the air! “Once You Pop You Cannot Stop” – the early TV ads cautioned.

Pringles was developed by Procter & Gamble who launched the product in 1967. It is now owned by Kellogg’s (acquired May 2012 for $2.695bn) and holds fourth place in the US choice of snacks behind Lays, Doritos and Cheetos. The challenge for P&G was to develop the perfect chip. A chemist Frederic Baur between 1956 to 1958 developed the distinctive saddle shape and the foil-lined tube packaging with a plastic lid but failed to deliver the taste. Curiously, when Baur died in 2008 his family buried his cremated remains in a Pringle’s tube.

Alexander Liepa of P&G succeeded by revisiting Baur’s work and improved the taste.

The “Pringle” name is the subject of some debate. Idea 1. A Mark Pringle filed a patent for processing potatoes and his work was cited by P&G in their application. Idea 2 two P&G advertising guys lived in Pringle Drive Finneytown (Ohio, USA). Idea 3 P&G chose Pringle from the Cincinnati telephone directory.

I like the fact that the male feared on the packaging is known as “Julius Pringle”- he was first designed by Louis J Dixon.

Pringles are manufactured in Jackson, Tennessee, Belgium, Poland, Malaysia and China and have a truly world-wide market.

The US FDA questioned P&G’s use of “potatoes” in their packaging and prevented their use of “chips”. P&G used the alternative “crisps, which became a problem in the UK as “crisps” are a potato product and the potato content of Pringles is only 42%. In 2008 P&G’s lawyers successfully argued that Pringles were not “crisps” thus exempting them from VAT – this decision was overturned!

Pringles are available in a wide variety of flavours. In Europe we tend to see the Original, Sour Cream and Onion, Cheese and Paprika. In the US the audience seems more enthusiastic for Cajun, Buffalo Wings and Jalapeño, whilst the Asian market loves Crab, Shrimp and Sesame flavours. 

 

If you liked this post please “Like” and share it with your friends. We’d really like to hear your experiences of the subject(s) featured in this post. Please share them below in the “Leave a Reply” section. Thanks

Images courtesy of Pringles/Kellogg’s