Inside the Wham-O Fun Factory !

Wham-O Hula Hoop, from the Fun Factory since 1948
With more than 70 years of cultural and commercial significance, and with a lineup of consumer products that appeal to people of all ages, the Wham-O® brand remains synonymous with fun, play and sport. We manufacture and market some of the most recognizable consumer brands in the world today, from classics like Frisbee® discs, Slip ’N Slide® water slides, and Hula Hoop® toy hoops, to outdoor brands like Morey®, Boogie® body boards, Snowboogie® sleds, and BZ® Pro Boards.

Wham-O is a company and lifestyle brand that is steeped in the American cultural tradition of classic, well made toys.

We continue our success and entrepreneurial spirit by building smart partnerships. We target partners aligned with our mission of bringing new products to market that promote our on-going commitment to the highest-quality, and to bringing families, friends, and teammates together during every season of the year – indoors and out.

Have an idea that could be the next Wham-O product? Submit it today to turn that into the next iconic toy.


Wham-O. Hours of fun from the Fun Factory since 1948

Fun Facts about Wham-O

Vivid imagination and ability to see beyond ordinary – is what takes curious mind to the World of Fun!

  1. Both Wham-O founders, Arthur “Spud” Mellin and Richard Knerr, were USC graduates. Go Trojans!
  2. Wham-O was named after the sound a slingshot (their first product!) made when it hit its target.
  3. Frisbee or Pluto Platter? Inspired by the countrywide obsession with the UFO phenomena, Wham-O founders named the most popular Flying disc as a Pluto Platter™ Putt Putt. The brand name Frisbee® was introduced a year later, being influenced by the comic strip called “Mr. Frisbie” and by the Frisbie Pie Co. tins.
  4. The modern Hula Hoop was inspired by bamboo exercise rings that children in Australia were playing with.
  5. Superball® was created by a chemical engineer on accident.
  6. The NFL named the Super Bowl games after Superball®!
  7. The 1965 “Airblaster” could blow out a candle from 20 feet away!
  8. Wham-O also marketed very real crossbows, machetes, boomerangs and throwing knives.
  9. A fictionalized account of the invention of two Wham-O products, the Hula-Hoop® and Frisbee®, is depicted in the 1994 film The Hudsucker Proxy.
  10. A Wham-O Air Blaster was featured in the infamous 1964 film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians as a freeze ray gun used by one of the Martians.
  11. The band Monster Magnet is named after a Wham-O toy from the 1960s.
  12. Once dropped out of a 23rd floor hotel window in Australia, Superball® shot back up 15 floors.
  13. During the 1960s, Wham-O sold more than 20 million Superball® balls. By 1994 Frisbee® sales reached 100 million units.
  14. 25 million Hula Hoops® were sold in less than four months after the launch in 1957 and in two years sales reached more than 100 million units making $45 million in revenue.
  15. Wham-O has sold about 230 different items in the span of 70 years! It’s almost guaranteed that our grandparents touched a Wham-O product.
  16. The Superball®, Frisbee®, Hula Hoop® were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame!