January, 1957 – Wham-O Produces Its First Plastic Frisbees

The story of the first Frisbee starts with someone enjoying a delicious pie. Well, that part can be assumed at least — because used pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company of Connecticut are said to be predecessors to the modern plastic toy. According to popular legend, in the late 19th or early 20th century, students at Yale University started tossing the empty pie tins to each other as a game, often yelling “Frisbie!” as they let them rip.

Then, in 1948, inventors Walter Morrison and Warren Franscioni created a plastic disc called the “Flyin-Saucer,” a playful nod to America’s newfound fascination with UFOs. In 1955, Morrison (having split with Franscioni) reimagined the disc as the “Pluto Platter.” He demonstrated it at the Los Angeles County Fair, where it caught the attention of the Wham-O toy company, which bought the rights and rolled out the first mass-produced models in 1957. Aware of the Frisbie pie tin-tossing trend that was still going on, Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee a year later, and the rest is history.

 In 1955, Fred Morrison sold his Pluto Platter in a colorful bag with equally colorful copy. Note the not- so-safe suggestion to “Use bag for space helmet if head fits.” 

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‘I like playing frisbee. it is the only sport

where you can thrown something at a person and it’s okay.’

-demetri martin

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source credit: nicenews