World Famous Comics: Wham-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory
Wham-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory
By: Tim Walsh Publisher: Chronicle Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Chronicle Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 192 Publication Date: October 01, 2008
Fascinating boomer flashback This is very enjoyable, and a strong nostalgia flashback if you were born in the 1940s-1960s.
An extremely visual book, with more product packaging graphics than text, it covers everything from the outrageously successful (Superball, Hula-Hoop, Slip n Slide, Frisbee, Hacky-Sack, Silly String) to the hilariously obscure (Purple Moon Cat, Kooky Froot, Superball Dice, Chain Gang Drinking Coasters).
Who knew they marketed a Patio Style Bomb Fallout Shelter Cover? ("40-Million May Die! How about YOU?"). Or a rubber loop with handles that promised "bosom development" and "Swedish exercise for family health!"?
They also made weapons in the 1950s, and I had forgotten that we owned a Wham-O Sportsman ("PROFESSIONAL MODEL USED BY MEMBERS OF THE NAT'L SLINGSHOT ASSO."), their first product, which they created in 1948 to launch airborne meat (I am not making this up! It's in the book!) for training pet falcons! My dad, a biology prof and bird-lover who authored a book on genetics for pigeon breeders, used one to fire ball-bearings at feral felines stalking bird nests in the ravine behind our home in the sixties.
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Get it! It's SUPER! It's WHAM-O! Hours of FUN for the WHOLE FAMILY!
Flashback Fun If you ever owned a frisbee, super-elastic bubble plastic or a super-ball... this book's for you. A great nostalgic look back at all things Wham-O. I gave this to my wife for Christmas and we spent and hour just reading, laughing and yelling "I had that"!
Oh, so many happy days remembered! I didn't even need my afternoon cup of coffee after reading this book...I was just totally energized, like the first time I bounced a Super Ball! A very fun read.
Calling All Retro Toy Lovers and Silly Nostalgia Geeks! Like most of the outrageously zany toys it showcases, Tim Walsh's Wham-O Super Book "rolls, jumps, skips, whirls, loops, climbs, circles, soars and rotates perpetually with body-english!" Walsh uncovers the unbelievable stories behind many of the fads and must-have toys of our childhoods and reminds us as adults how great it was to have so much ridiculous fun.
WHAM-O...who knew? In a recent interview the author of this book said that if a book author or musician sold as many products as Wham-O did, they would be in halls of fame, but the story behind the company has been largely ignored, until now.
I'm from the area where Wham-O was founded an I had no idea about the company. I remember the goofy commercials and the wacky products. But who knew that the company had such an interesting history?
The book's design takes its cue from the colorful packaging of the past and sets the mood for a fun, informative and thoroughly enjoyable book.
If you have a "big kid" on your list who is a little old for getting actual toys, (ahem, I'm looking at you, Dad...) then get this book and make his/her day!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
