Richard Knerr who gave the world the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee dies at 82

The toymaker who introduced the world to the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and other American fads has died.

Richard Knerr's, who co-founded Wham-O in 1948, died on Monday in Arcadia. His wife said he had suffered a stroke.



Knerr and his childhood friend Arthur "Spud" Mellin got their start in business selling slingshots. They branched into other sporting goods, then added toys that bore such playful names as the Superball, Slip 'N Slide and Silly String.



When a friend told them in 1958 about a large ring used for exercise in Australia, they devised their own version and called it the Hula Hoop. Around that same time, they bought the rights to a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter, and renamed it the Frisbee.

Not all of Mr. Knerr’s brainstorms succeeded. Among them were mail-order mink coats for $9.95, a $119 do-it-yourself bomb shelter and Instant Fish, an African import whose egg-laying ability could not keep up with product orders.