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Frisbee hits 50

Frisbee hits 50

<http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/recreation/stories/
MYSA071707.1P.frisbee.238a18f.html>
http://tinyurl.com/2n2f2e

Web Posted: 07/17/2007 12:19 PM CDT
David Uhler
Express-News Staff Writer

Born the same year the Soviets launched Sputnik, the Frisbee has
provided high-flyin' fun for half a century. Why did a piece of
plastic become so popular? The design is timeless - a simple circle -
and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to fly one.

In the beginning, there was a metal popcorn can lid. Walter "Fred"
Morrison and his future wife, Lucile Nay, tossed one at a Thanksgiving
Day family gathering in 1937 and thought it was good. They tried pie
tins and cake pans next. They even sold some. Then World War II broke
out. Morrison served as a fighter pilot. After the war, he used his
newfound knowledge of aerodynamics to build a better disc. Essential
to Morrison's creation, American research and development during the
war had refined the manufacturing process of a durable and lightweight
material: plastic.

Wham-O deal

At the suggestion of a stranger who spotted him flipping his disc in a
Los Angeles parking lot, Walter 'Fred' Morrison took his 'Pluto
Platter' to Wham-O Manufacturing Inc. On Jan. 23, 1957, Morrison and
his wife signed over all rights to the toy in exchange for quarterly
royalty checks. Six months later, Wham-O began marketing the discs
under a new name: Frisbee.

Frisbee has two daddies

In 1947, Morrison teamed with Warren Franscioni, another former Army
Air Corps pilot, to make plastic discs. Franscioni provided the cash
for an injection mold, and they found a company to make their 'Flyin-
Saucer.' The partners demonstrated their discs and sold them at
beaches, parks, fairs and retail stores. They amicably parted company
in 1950. Franscioni re-enlisted in the military, but he continued
selling discs for a couple of years and collected royalties until the
mid-1960s from the company that molded the Flyin-Saucers. Morrison
found another manufacturer that could make discs more cheaply and
called them Pluto Platters.
Pie in the sky

A humble pie pan, according to Frisbee legend, is the origin of the
flying discs' half-century-old moniker. The Frisbie Pie Co., founded
in 1871 by William Russell Frisbie in Bridgeport, Conn., sold its pies
in pans stamped 'Frisbie's Pies.' Students at Yale discovered that
inverted Frisbie tins flew when tossed. They yelled 'Frisbie!' while
playing, similar to a golfer shouting 'Fore!' In 1957, a Wham-O exec
who had heard about 'Frisbie-ing' modified the spelling for his
company's new product. Wham-O's Frisbee was patented in 1958, the same
year the Frisbie Pie Co. closed.

Frisbee fizzles at first

Wham-O eventually had a hit on its hands with the Frisbee, but the
disc's first year was overshadowed by the public frenzy over another
one of the company's products: the Hula Hoop. Manufacture of
Morrison's Pluto Platter was put on the back burner until the company
caught up with demand for its plastic-tubing rings. Other Wham-O
success stories include the Superball (20 million sold during the
1960s) and the Hacky Sack juggling footbag.

The Frisbee mantra

Morrison's wife, Lu, wrote the Frisbee's original flying instructions,
including the immortal words molded on the underside: 'Flat Flip Flies
Straight.' That's also the title of a history of the Frisbee printed
in 2006, a book written by Morrison and Phil Kennedy, an author,
publisher and longtime Frisbee enthusiast and collector.

Frisbee games

Ultimate Frisbee: Combines the nonstop movement and athletic endurance
of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football. Teams score by
passing the Frisbee to a teammate who is standing inside their end
zone. Running with the Frisbee is not allowed. Possession of the
Frisbee is lost if it touches the ground.

Frisbee Golf: First played in the 1970s, this game is played like
regular golf by attempting to complete each hole using the fewest
number of throws possible. Targets are usually elevated metal baskets.
Consecutive tosses are made from the spots where previous throws
landed.

Freestyle Frisbee: Acrobatics, ballet and gymnastics meet as teams of
two or three players perform choreographed routines involving throws,
catches and moves with one or more discs. Moves include the 'full body
roll,' 'nail delay,' 'airbrush' and 'overhand wrist-flip.'

Timeline

Jan. 23, 1957: Frisbee designer Fred Morrison teams up with Wham-O in
a deal that makes the company the sole manufacturer, promoter and
distributor of a disc he called the Pluto Platter.

June 17, 1957: Wham-O first uses the name Frisbee on packaging of the
Pluto Platter.

July 22, 1957: Wham-O submits patent application in Morrison's name
for the Frisbee design.

1958: Frisbee patent approved.

1959: Frisbee trademark registered.

1964: International Frisbee Association organized. New 'Professional
Model Frisbee' introduced with patented flight ridges on top surface,
improving stability and speed.

1968: Ultimate Frisbee invented.

1974: First official Invitational World Frisbee Championship held in
the Rose Bowl.

1985: The World Flying Disc Federation convenes its first
international congress in Heisenberg, Sweden.

2001: Ultimate Frisbee recognized as an official sport at the 2001
World Games in Akita, Japan.

2007: Frisbee celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Frisbee numbers

200-plus million: Estimate of Frisbees sold over the last 50 years. If
laid edge to edge, they would circle the Earth - and extend more than
5,000 miles into a second 'orbit.'

$1 million: Cash value of royalty checks that Morrison told the Los
Angeles Times in 1977 that he had received since 1957.

1,200: Frisbee golf courses in the U.S.

40: Countries that have organized Ultimate Frisbee play.

Where are they now?

Fred Morrison, 87, lives in a double-wide on 23 acres of sagebrush in
the shadow of Utah's Cove Mountain. He and Lu divorced in 1969. They
remarried and divorced again in 1970. She died in 1987. Warren
Franscioni died of a heart attack in 1974 at age 57.

Frisbee's Cooperstown

Way up high - appropriately enough - in the 'rabbit ear' of Michigan's
Upper Peninsula, the International Frisbee Hall of Fame is a required
pilgrimage for all disc disciples. The shrine in Lake Linden is part
of the Houghton County Historical Museum, located at 5500 Highway M-26.

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