Hula Hoopla

Wham-O employees hula hoop outside the company's Emeryville, Calif., office on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The hoopla over the toy started 50 years ago when entrepreneurs Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin sought a trademark for a plastic cylinder that had inspired by a similar toy that had enjoyed modest success in Australia's school yards.

Wham-O intern Li-Hsuan Lu hula hoops in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, a day before its 50th anniversary. The record for the most hoops twirled simultaneously is 105, set by Jin Linlin, on Oct. 28, 2007.

Wham-O intern Li-Hsuan Lu hula hoops in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The popular toy became so ubiquitous that the former Soviet Union banned it as a symbol of the "emptiness of American culture."

Arp Elementary kindergartner Malakie Judd, 5, attempts to keep eight hula hoops going during a carnival in the gymnasium, in Cheyenne, Wyo., Feb. 8, 2007. It's hard to believe in age of action-packed video games and other whiz-bang gadgets, the Hula Hoop once was the hippest toy around. The hoopla began 50 years ago when two men sought a trademark for a thin plastic loop and went on to found a toy company called Wham-O.

A woman tries out a Hula Hoop at a 2007 toy show. The Hula Hoop is one of just 39 toys that have been inducted into the Strong Museum's Toy Hall of Fame.

Professional golfer Sam Snead gyrates with a Hula Hoop on the golf course in Miami Springs, Fla., Oct. 28, 1958. Saddled with a glut of unwanted Hula Hoops after the introduction of the company's Frisbee, Wham-O stopped manufacturing the toy until 1965 when its inventors came up with a new twist: they inserted ball bearings in the cylinder to make a "shoosh" sound.

Two models gracefully swing their new Hula-Hoops as they display the latest bodice creations in lingerie at a fashion show in Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 21, 1958. Wham-O Inc. sold more than 100 million Hula Hoops - at a suggested retail price of $1.98 apiece - after just a year on the U.S. market. That was more than one hula hoop for every two Americans at the time.