On the 14th of this month local time,Joan Anderson, inventor of the hula hoop, dies at 101 in a nursing home in Carlsbad, California, north of San Diego. It is understood that in 1956, Joan Anderson discovered a strange fitness craze when she returned to Australia to visit relatives: many people would put a wooden toy ring on their waist and buttocks and spin it.
Ms. Anderson brought the toy ring back to Los Angeles to share with friends.Inspired by a friend’s comment that “you look like you’re doing ‘Hula’ (a Hawaiian dance),” I officially named it Hula Hoop..
Later, her husband saw the business opportunity of this toy and decided to sell it to the toy company Wham-O for production.
The documentary "Hula Girl" restores the scene at that time:
The Andersons took out the toy ring from the trunk of the car and recommended it to Wham-O's CEO. There were no witnesses at the time, and the two parties reached cooperation just by shaking hands.
Subsequently, this hula hoop quickly became popular across the country, with sales soaring to US$30 million in two months.
However, Wham-O monopolizes the revenue from hula hoops.The Andersons sued and settled, receiving only a few thousand dollars in compensation..
