The business history of Hula Hoop and his connection with Ancient Greece

In its first year of release alone, it made 50 million sales

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How many times have you not reminisced about your childhood and games what did you do with friends in the neighborhood? Lame, rubber, apples, hula hoop, some of them, which on a daily basis filled the free time of the carefree years of your childhood.

Have you ever wondered what their origin is? How many years or even centuries in some cases, life counts, who invented them, where did they get their name, when did they reach their peak, who made a lot of money from them, are they just Greek toys or were they an occupation for other children around the world? ;

A shocking example of all the above questions is the hula hoop, which although the term as we know it today did not appear earlier than the 20th century, however, as a child's activity and sport is considered much older than most world religions, while it is associated inseparably and with Ancient Greece.

The hula hoop in Ancient Greece

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So if we were to go back in time and trace the first rudimentary existence and use of hula hoop we would have to travel thousands of years back and watch the children of ancient Egypt play with wreaths of dried vines. Without a doubt, the way they played with them was almost the same as the one we all have in mind, except that their main concern was to push them on the street with a cane so that they were constantly rolling, without falling down.

In its cultures Ancient Greece and in Rome this particular cylinder remained a popular toy, with the Ancient Greeks, more specifically, decorating their metal rings with bells and not considering them only children's toys.

The ancient Greeks referred to them with the word "wheel", while it was used both for their gymnastics and for dancing with a different technique. In fact, while considered a fairly popular form of leisure and exercise, it was never included as a sport in major sporting events.

The specific wreaths, which were also called rings, were probably made of copper or iron, while they were "guided" by their operators by a spring - in Greek vessels these springs are depicted as a small and straight stick. The size of the crowns depended on the height of each player, as it had to reach the level of the chest.

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It is worth mentioning that this sport was considered quite beneficial, which is why it was recommended by Hippocrates for the training of the body of those who could not respond to intense exercise.

The Romans they used it in the same way, while the Eskimos taught their children fishing, as through their wreaths they showed how to have a better goal, passing the rods through them. During the Middle Ages, children invented another use for wreaths: they jumped into them as if they were playing a skipping rope, while in the 14th century hula hoop had swept England, with the country's doctors calling it even dangerous to health.

It was the British sailors, however, about three centuries later, who gave these wreaths the name Hula Hoop, when during a trip to Hawaii they observed the islanders dancing the traditional Hula dance. The movements were very similar to those of the waist when someone was playing with the hoops and thus was born the name by which they are still known throughout the world.

The creation and spread of hula hoop in modern society

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It was in 1958 when the American company "Wham-O" launched the plastic wreath on the market, the current hula hoop, without those in charge knowing that a short time later it would spread throughout the world.

In just a few months, it was a surprise, with the press of the time writing about the game - a phenomenon that took on "epidemic proportions" causing young and old to turn it around in their midst.

Those in charge when designing it did not know that this seemingly simple game would cause a global frenzy and of course they did not even imagine that the company's coffers would overflow with profits.

The inspiration for the creation of the hula hoop was the images of Australian children playing with bamboo wreaths during the gym class. Bamboo has given way to hard plastic of various shades, while in the form we know today it first appeared on playgrounds in California.

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Its price was just $ 1,98, while in less than four months about 25 million of the hula hoop plastic wreaths were sold and within two years the company managed to sell 100 million hula hoops.

In the streets of its artistic districts Paris The hula hoop was a daily spectacle for passers-by, while the Americans managed to conquer new records, of course in terms of their endurance and skills in this game. South African charities offered the new global toy to children who did not have the money to buy it, while in Japan residents made a series of priority tickets outside the shops to get the coveted toy.

After its spread around the world and in a short time the popularity of the game slowly began to decline initially in Europe, while in China and Russia on the contrary it was included in the numbers of acrobats in circuses and rhythmic gymnastics performances.

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