Fad Toys & Crazes

About Fad Toys & Crazes

Test your memory of the must-have fad toys and overnight crazes that swept across America — from the Hula Hoop to the Pet Rock! Fad Toys & Crazes packs 15 multiple-choice questions with a mix of 6 easy, 5 medium, 4 hard questions into a relaxed session of roughly 7 minutes — no sign-up, no timer pressure. An explanation appears after every answer, and finishing once a day keeps your streak alive.

A few sample questions

1. 1. Which toy company introduced the Hula Hoop to the American public in 1958?

   Answer: Wham-O

   Wham-O launched the plastic Hula Hoop in 1958 and sold an astonishing 25 million of them in just four months. It became one of the fastest-selling fad toys in history.

2. 2. The Slinky was invented by a naval engineer who accidentally discovered its bouncing spring action. What was his name?

   Answer: Richard James

   Richard James was working at a Navy shipyard in 1943 when he knocked a tension spring off a shelf and watched it walk end-over-end. His wife Betty named it the Slinky, and it debuted at Gimbels department store in 1945.

3. 3. Silly Putty was originally created during World War II as a substitute for which scarce material?

   Answer: Rubber

   General Electric engineer James Wright accidentally created Silly Putty in 1943 while trying to develop a synthetic rubber substitute. It was sold as a novelty toy starting in 1950 and became an instant sensation.

4. 4. What fun trick could children do with Silly Putty and a newspaper comic strip?

   Answer: Copy the printed image onto the putty

   One of Silly Putty's most beloved tricks was pressing it firmly onto a newspaper comic strip — the putty would lift an exact copy of the ink image. Kids spent hours transferring and stretching their favorite comic characters.

5. 5. The Frisbee flying disc grew out of which unexpected object that college students had been tossing for fun?

   Answer: Pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company

   Students at Yale and other New England colleges had long been tossing empty pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, yelling "Frisbie!" as a warning. Wham-O refined the design into a plastic disc and trademarked the slightly altered name "Frisbee" in 1958.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓Gary Dahl launched the Pet Rock in 1975, packaging ordinary smooth stones in a cardboard box with air holes and a whimsical care manual. He sold over 1.5 million rocks at $3.95 each in just a few months.
• ✓Mood rings contained liquid crystals that shifted color in response to changes in the wearer's skin temperature, which can subtly reflect emotional states. They were introduced by Joshua Reynolds and Maris Ambats and became a huge craze in 1975.
• ✓The Duncan Toy Company, founded by Donald Duncan, turned the yo-yo into an American obsession through clever demonstrations and competitions. The name "yo-yo" itself was trademarked by Duncan for many years.