Greatest Toy Invention of 20th Century – The Frisbee!!

It was sad to hear that Fred Morrison has passed away aged 90 years old.

For those who don’t know, Fred was the inventor of the Frisbee, which it has to be argued is one of the greatest toy inventions of the 20th Century.
I know that all the polls say that this accolade goes to Lego, and probably deservedly so, but I want to put a stake in the ground for the frisbee as its reach goes well beyond childhood and is established as more than a toy, its a plaything and a sport; it’s a noun and a verb!

How many of you reading this still play with this household staple and love it, even if now we can’t seem to throw it as far or as straight as we used to; and there is every chance that it may be a bit “gnarled” because of throwing it for the dog!

Whatever your bias on the toy thing I challenge you not to think of sunshine, beaches, gardens and barbeque’s when imagining the Frisbee. It has iconic stature and we have a lot to thank Fred for.

According to his obituary in the Daily Telegraph : “When Fred was 17 he and his girlfriend, Lu Nay, were at a Thanksgiving Day picnic when, in a moment of idle fun, they began throwing back and forth the lid of a popcorn tin. They then discovered that a tin cake pan flew more effectively, and they started a small business selling “Flyin’ Cake Pans” at 25 cents apiece on the beach at Santa Monica, California”

After a spell in the army in WW2 he revisited the idea until: “In 1954 Morrison realised that he could produce his own disc more cheaply, and the next year he and Lu Nay – by now his wife – designed the Pluto Platter, which had a deeper, thicker rim. In 1957 they sold the marketing rights to Wham-O, a go-ahead toy company which also marketed the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball and the Water Wiggle. It was Wham-O which came up with the name Frisbee (“I thought it was a terrible name,” Morrison later said)…”

…And the legend was born!!

Thank you and RIP Fred

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• Fred Morrison (telegraph.co.uk)
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• Fred Morrison Dead: Frisbee Inventor Died At 90 (huffingtonpost.com)