We were sad to hear the news that Walter Fredrick Morrison, the man
credited with inventing the ubiquitous Frisbee died last week at the age of
90. In honor of his life we thought we
would look back at the history of the iconic Frisbee and the legacy of this accomplished
inventor.
For many Americans, the Frisbee has become a staple of
everyday life. Over 200 million Frisbees
have been sold in the last 50 years and it is difficult to go to a park, beach
or college campus without seeing a flying disc being tossed around.
Morrison came up with
the idea for the Frisbee when he used to toss a tin cake pan on the beach in California as a
recreational activity. Looking for a way to make the cake pans fly better he
developed a flying disc and began manufacturing it in 1948. Morrison would sell the discs at local fairs
and eventually attracted Wham-O Manufacturing, the company that bought the
rights to Morrison's plastic discs and renamed it the Frisbee.
To date, more Frisbees
have been sold than basketballs, baseballs and footballs combined. The Frisbee has inspired the popular game of
Ultimate Frisbee and become a popular recreational activity for millions of
people around the world. Morrison’s
legacy is sure to live on through his invention for many years to come.
Did you play any make-shift games
when you were younger that might have commercial potential, if properly
packaged?
