Same As It Ever Was
While visiting my grandson, Brennan, recently, I noticed he had a toy that brought back memories.
Sitting on the table was a Slinky, something I hadn't seen for years. I immediately picked it up and held my hands level with an end of the Slinky in each. Then I began moving my hands up and down and the Slinky began moving faster and faster in a blur and I felt like I was back in my childhood.
I noticed this Slinky was blue and was smaller than the silver model we had back in the dark ages. And that silver model was one of those toys you had to have in the 1950s such as the Hula-Hoop, the Boob-A-Loop, the Whee-Lo, the Gyroscope and the Whirly-Whirler. Most of those are no longer around, but the Slinky is.
But my son, Jim, mentioned this Slinky was not the same, not like the one he had about 20 years ago. He noted that because it is smaller it would not ''walk'' down steps, which was a big selling point of the original Slinky.
Another toy from that era is still available and a big selling point is it has not changed. Other than the price, it is exactly the same as when it made its debut in 1953 - the Wiffle Ball.
The first Wiffle balls sold for 49 cents. In 1956 the first Wiffle Balls with a broom handle bat were introduced and sold for $2. It wasn't until 1961 that the familiar yellow plastic bat appeared.
You can still buy a Wiffle Ball and yellow bat today and the ball is the same as it was in 1953 and the bat is the same as the 1961 model. It retails for $3.99, but I picked one up this week on sale for only $2.67! (Watch your mailbox, Brennan).
There was a change in the bat in 1975. High-density polyethylene was too costly due to the OPEC oil embargo, so the bats were black because they were made of reground and repurposed materials. When the embargo ended in 1976, the bats returned to yellow and still are.
Those are just some of the interesting facts you'll find in Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide by Michael Hermann (Triumph, $12.95).
The Wiffle Ball story sounds like a movie script that some studios probably wouldn't have bought because it sounds too "perfect."
David Mullaney, a former semi-pro left-handed pitcher, was living in Fairfield, Conn., and had a successful, but short-lived, career, selling Plasticote Auto Polish, the first wipe-on/wipe-off car polish. A sales agent began selling the polish on consignment, the company got into a cash bind and eventually went bankrupt.
Suddenly in 1952, Mullaney was unemployed, but never told his family. He pretended to go to work each day while actually looking for work.
The situation extended into 1953 and after coming home from "work" one day, Mullaney saw his 13-year-old son playing a form of baseball with his friends. They were using a broom handle as a bat and a plastic golf ball with holes in it. When Mullaney asked his son what they were playing, he answered, "Wiffle Ball."
When asked why it was called Wiffle Ball, his son explained that when a batter misses a pitch it's called a wiff.
The pitchers wanted the ball to curve, but that was impossible because the practice golf balls featured round holes. As Mullaney watched more and more, he began to spend more time perfecting a plastic ball that would curve from plastic parts he obtained. Working in his kitchen, Mullaney eventually cut a half plastic sphere with the slits that are the familiar trademark of the Wiffle Ball now. It is those slits that help make the Wiffle Ball curve and made it a success.
To get the Wiffle Balls produced, Mullaney turned to the Cosom Company which made the practice golf balls his son had been using. After producing the first Wiffle Balls, Cosom tried marketing its own version of a baseball. However, its baseball had round holes, like its practice golf balls, so it wouldn't curve and the product failed.
That first successful Wiffle Ball was made in Mullaney's kitchen on Aug. 14, 1953, and was the same design of the ball you see today. Mullaney eventually turned the company over to his son and the son has now turned the business over to his sons. And it's still based in Shelton, Conn.
The book also had instructions on how to throw a curve with a Wiffle Ball. Experts can actually make it curve 4 feet!
Many of the experts play in pro Wiffle Ball leagues and many people have constructed Wiffle Ball stadiums in their backyards. One person has a miniature Fenway Park and Wrigley Field in his backyard.
But you can still have just as much fun playing Wiffle Ball in your front yard. And that's because nothing about the Wiffle Ball has changed and that's a good thing.
