Memories: Dad Got Fired! It was 1958, and Dad and his boss shared buying duties for the fifteen-dime stores. Dad had hardware, stationery, toys, and notions. Ralph had everything else. Well, Dad went to the toy show and saw a thing called a Hula Hoop.
In 1957, Wham-O toy company founders Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin learned that kids in Australia twirled bamboo hoops around their waists in gym class. Within a year, Wham-O had created a hollow hoop out of Phillips Petroleum’s newly developed plastic Marlex.
The earliest known advertisement for the “Hula-Hoop by Wham-O” was seen on June 16, 1958, for “The Broadway” chain of department stores in Los Angeles, for sale for $1.98 (equivalent to $20 more than 60 years later).
Dad proceeded to place an order for 100 gross of the new toy! !00 gross is 14,400 Hula Hoops. When the invoice came in, Ralph hit the ceiling and ran through the warehouse looking for Dad. Remember, this was 1958! They had fifteen stores meaning every store had to sell 1000 of these toys. Ralph fired him on the spot mumbling something about being crazy and ruining the business.
When Dad returned home, he appeared downcast because he had been friends with Ralph for many years. The following day, Ralph was forced to dispatch the Hula Hoops to stores to gauge their popularity. To everyone’s surprise, the toy was a massive success, and the stores sold out within a few hours.
Ralph drove to our house, apologized, and begged Dad to return and try to get more of them!
p.s. I really di not know if Dad got “fired,” or they just had words as they were best friends for forty years!
We spent the morning putting up decorations around the house. We had four large boxes, not including the Halloween tree decorations upstairs.
Paul speaks fluent ghost!
I could not pass up the web that fits on the mantle! The goodies on the mantle are a combination of the things we have collected in the past 30+ years.
Spider webs on the mantle!
Mary was surprised when she received four blank white pillows, but I assured her the covers were on the way. The 18″ by 18″ pads are perfect for tossing around the house.
I love the pillows.
We advised the witch against flying indoors, but she ignored us and crash-landed in the kitchen with a loud SPLAT!
That’s got to hurt!!
Scout picked out his favorite Halloween decoration. The doggy lights up at night time.
BARK BARK!
We left in the car at 10:00 am to visit Bonnie and her family in Camarillo. They recently moved into a beautiful new house. Bonnie is the daughter of Mary’s college roommate and the sister of the doctor who performed my prostatectomy.
They have three new Great Pyrenees puppies, which are so much fun.
Snowball was very friendly!
We hope it does not snow because it would be hard to find.
The hawks were flying overhead and looking at us with a hungry look!
We could hear him as he swooshed overhead.
At 2:00 p.m., we went out to eat with the entire gang! Great fun!
We tried to get the ladies only, but the kids were hams and kept popping into the picture.
We all had sandwiches, and the kids devoured their meals, not leaving any for the ants! It was impressive!
The lunch was delicious!
After sitting in terrible traffic for four hours, we were exhausted from all the sitting.
Mary suggested that we call Vicky to catch up, and when we did, she revealed that she and Jim had gone their separate ways. We then invited Vicky to join us at the Fish House restaurant, and she eagerly accepted the offer. During our two-hour conversation, we chatted about various topics. It was great to spend time with Vicky, as she is a good friend.
David, of Dianne and David, loves their clam chowder. So, we got two bowls of chowder and headed to their house to drop things off. They live on a hilltop overlooking Orange County. As I entered their home, I snapped this picture. You can see Catalina Island in downtown Los Angeles.
