Fad
Timeline
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1945
Slinky
- The first Slinky craze fell victim to inventor Richard
James' idiosyncrasies: he tried to ship the toy with religous
messages. Failure loomed until... (see 1962)
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1949
Silly
Putty - Entrepreneur Peter Hodgson paid 44 cents an ounce
for putty that had no use. Then he turned around and
sold it as a novelty item for $1 an ounce.
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1957
Ant
Farm - Promotion is the father of fads, says E. Joseph
Cossman. One scheme to promote his new ant farm was actually
to provide the ants.
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1957
Frisbee
- "Test your product on the average person," says
Richard Knerr, Wham-O's cofounder. "When a kid saw
a frisbee his reaction was, 'Wow! What's that?'"
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1958
Hula
Hoop - A catchy name helps a fad. The Hula Hoop, introduced
by Wham - O, was almost called Swinga-Hoop or Twirl-a-Hoop.
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1962
Slinky
(cont.)... Betty James, the founder's wife, took over.
In 1962 she paid off the company's debts. The line today
includes 25 products - including a 40th anniversary bronze
Slinky.
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1965
Super
Ball - Norman Stingley's Super Ball had one problem.
It fell apart. Wham-O, which welcomes freelance ideas,
found a way to keep the ball intact.
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1967
Rickie
Tickie Stickies - "The key is timing," says
Don Kracke, who introduced flower stickers at the height
of the flower-power movement.
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1975
Pet
Rock - Gary Dahl wrote a spoof of a pet training manual
and included a rock to help sell the book.
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1980
Rubik's
Cube - Hungarian Erno Rubik invented his cube in 1974.
It wasn't until 1980 that Ideal Toy Co. made the cube
a craze in the United States.
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1982
Wacky
WallWalker® - Ken Hakuta figured rights for the Japanese
toy were sold but discovered a license was still available.
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1983
Trivial
Pursuit - The inventors keep the fad alive by creating
variations: games for sports fans, moviegoers, and one
with two sets of questions so kids can compete against
adults.
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1985
Diet
Fudge Soda - "Can you make a diet soda taste like
fudge?" Alan B. Canfield asked the lab.
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1985
Rambo
gum - A. G. Atwater of Amurol Products Co. says, "Rambo
gum will last as long as Rambo is still popular".
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1986
Healleyscope
- Burt Rubin saw the comet craze coming in 1981, the
year he designed his telescope.
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