Thanks, superballs.com, for the image ;-).
Wham-O Toys were a big deal in the 60's. One of their products came out in 1965, a big year for toys. It was a ball made of highly compressed rubber. That gave it amazing bouncing ability. In fact, as the ad said, you could bounce it over a house!
And I did, too. Once I convinced my parents to shell out the 98 cents necessary for its purchase, the first thing I did was bounce it over the house. What a rush!
The SuperBall traces its origin to a California chemist named Norman Stingley. He compressed rubber under 3500 lbs. of pressure to create a sphere that bounced like no ball had ever bounced before. Realizing its potential as a craze, he offered it to his employer, the Bettis Rubber Company of Whittier. The rubber was not quite ready for prime time (it would fall apart within minutes of play), and they declined any interest in it.
Enter Wham-O.
Wham-O worked with Stingley to create a more durable rubber. By mid 1965, the SuperBall was released, along with an avalanche of TV commercials. Wham-O scored yet another instant hit, and more than seven million SuperBalls were sold by year's end.
The ball, besides having tremendous bouncing power, also has a mighty grab. You could drop it on a hard floor with some english and it would hop back and forth, reversing its direction each time. We also threw them back and forth the length of a city block.
Like many toy crazes, the mighty rush to buy them soon died down, but the toy itself survives to this day. Wham-O still cranks out SuperBalls, as do many imitators. But in the mid 1960's, the entire country was caught up in SuperBall fever.
By the way, as I penned this article, a 1965 SuperBall in its original packaging was up to $31.00 with three days left on its eBay auction. So if you have an original, put it in a safe place!
Comments (4)
Super Balls rocked! I remember the deadly (and much underestimated) second Super Ball bounce. WOW. My favorite boyhood ball. Wiffle a close second.
Posted by Tim | September 16, 2008 5:24 PM
Posted on September 16, 2008 17:24
I remnember super balls well! I don't remember the Whamo name. I must have had them! These balls would bounce over a house. Probablem with bouncing them that high, you would tend to loose sight of them. I remember getting the balls in gumball machines. Usually clear with colored designed inside of them. I remember collecting various superballs mostly for collecting.
Posted by Rivers End | May 27, 2009 3:43 PM
Posted on May 27, 2009 15:43
I remember the time well. and at age 7, right near school getting out, I got a package of 6 little super balls. They were so cool but easy to loose and find. They ave remained around a long time. many prize dispensers would give you one for a quarter or might give you one if you were lucky.
The 60s had so many funny fads like that.
Posted by Scott Irv | May 28, 2009 5:37 PM
Posted on May 28, 2009 17:37
My Mum, who worked at a metropolitan radio station,was always ahead of the latest trends, so I was the "first on my block" with one when the Super Ball was launched here in Australia back in the 60's.
I was obsessed with this thing and played with it for hours on end - to the point where I could have easily been killed by a car! One evening, after school, I was bouncing it outside on a main road and it got caught in a tram track and went hurtling down the hill - with me running heedlessly and full pelt after it! - through a set of traffic lights and down to the tram depot, a quarter of a mile away, where the tracks deviated. From there, it was anyone's guess where it went, being on twilight and the ball being grey in colour. I spent ages frantically looking for the thing and I was frightened and panicked about what my Mum would say. She was furious that I'd been so careless,and reckless, but she eventually bought me another one anyway, but by that time the novelty had worn off and I was too afraid to play with it!!
Posted by Jan Armstrong | May 30, 2010 7:41 PM
Posted on May 30, 2010 19:41