THE FAD
I first saw
one in the summer of 1958 in Ocean City, New Jersey. Several kids had one and
they were spinning and twirling them with only a little success. We soon found out they were Hula Hoops, and
everyone had to have one.
The idea was
to spin it around your waist and wiggle your hips so the hoop would stay and
spin around without hitting the ground.
It wasn’t easy. It seemed the
faster you wiggled your hips, the quicker the hoop fell. If you wiggled real slow, the hoop would also
fall. Eventually you hit your stride and
when you shifted your hip at just the right time the hoop would spin
centrifugally.
At first the
challenge was to spin it the most times without losing it. Then it was how long you could spin it. By August the trick would be where you would
spin it…around the hips, at the knees, even around the neck. By September the toy that seemed impossible
to master was a cinch for every kid in town.
Still the craze held on as parents were amazed at the children’s ability.
Then the
parents started to try and they mastered the new toy. It was at that point that children the world
over decided to quit the craze and end the fad.
Kind of like
Facebook.
haha.
ReplyDeletethese days, weighted hulahoops are making a comeback as a workout routine. two of my blog pals are using them. :)
So when our generation starts using Facebook the kids are pretty much going to defect to the next new social media idea? You're probably right. I just can't be "hip" no matter how hard I try. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteS
It's already happened, most teenagers defected years ago.
DeleteI had one of those. My parents never messed with it though. I loved that hula hoop. A lot.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
You are so right. I joined FB so I could keep up with my kids and their friends social happenings...but now all I hear are the crickets -- hey, where did everybody go? Hello? I see no more updates on anyone's FB pages anymore. Once I jumped in, they all left the pool.
ReplyDeleteTrue enough! Grandparents are having fun with it, though.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, you are right. Nothing kills a fad faster that parental approval.
ReplyDeleteToday it is an exercise tool.
That's exactly what happened to the hula hoop. My PT has just mastered the hula hoop. She's sixty; it bypassed her little town in Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteYep, the latest and greatest for the kids is Instagram and Snapchat. However, fb gets attention for special occasions like the prom. Everyone posts all the pics and then nothing else until the next big picture taking event.
ReplyDeleteI don't care who's using it - just keep it going! The husband and I have a few shares of fb stock.
How'd you come up with the hoola hoop analogy?! :) BTW, I still have one in our garage. It's good for a minute of fun on occasion.
I received a hula hoop for my birthday when I was a kid but I never could get the hang of it, just like Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI remember the first Hula Hoop I ever saw. It was 1957 and a friends dad brought it to her from a trip to Houston. It wasn't long before everyone had one. BTW, I am still pretty good with a Hula Hoop, but my grandkids are never as impressed as I think they should be.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't do the wiggle thing, so we played hula hoop baseball. We kicked the circle and ran to first base. I forgot how we played the field and threw runners out, but it beat wiggling.
ReplyDeleteYup, you're right. My son youngest son abandoned Facebook soon after I joined it.
ReplyDeleteWe were in Hawaii just recently. I did not see any Hula girls. I think it has been out of style.
ReplyDeleteHehe--score one for you in linking FB to hula hoops. There is a second grader at my daughter's school who is fabulous with the hula hoops--he does a routine for the school's talent show every year. Being that he is young, his parents probably make him to it--reinforcing your point.
ReplyDeleteFB drives me nutso by the way.
could never manage the hoop .... but facebook now, i'm hanging on well past the expiration date
ReplyDeleteAmazing! But I'm on Facebook only to communicate with my old friends anyway. Nice writing, Joeh.
ReplyDeleteI had a bright green one with those ball-bearing things inside. We liked to roll them down the sidewalk and try to run through them. A difficult feat which did not end in success for me.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's a better way to end a fad than the way of the lawn dart...
ReplyDeleteI remember hula hoops. I could spin mine from my waist up to my chest, feed an arm through and then my head so the hoop would then be spinning on one arm, then I'd feed my head and other arm back in and spin it back to my waist. Now all I can do is look at hula hoops in the shops. Ours were made of bamboo back then. My sister never learned the hip movement and she would give it a hand start around her waist, then it would fall, again and again.
ReplyDeleteLOL.. I could smell that punchline. So true. So funny.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wish facebook would die even though I use it.
ReplyDeleteAt least the hula hoop was exercise - social media doesn't even exercise the brain. Congratulation on POTW.
ReplyDelete