Those Crazy Kids... Hula Hoops, Really?

As with fashion or music, there are fads amongst children that go in and out with each generation. In the the 90′s a retailer was doing themselves a disservice if they didn’t carry at least fifteen different types of the classic toy the yo-yo. But in 2010 the most popular classic toy to make a huge come back is the hula hoop. The hula hoop is perhaps the cheapest and easiest toy to make. After all, it is just a large plastic ring. Whole sale prices are only about forty-six cents for twenty. That’s only two pennies for each hoop! It requires no electricity, only nominal skill to use, encourages children to play outside rather than sit in front of the TV, and is popular with people of all ages due to its status as a classic toy. In a New York Times interview Dan Roderick, the director of sports promotion at Wham-O toys said, “There is no other product that gives me as much fear and respect for the power of mass culture as the hula hoop.” You don’t need much more than that to prove the great success and fame of this simple toy.

Children are not the only ones picking up a ring and moving their hips. Hula hoops have also been seen in recent years in entertainment acts. From the waitresses at Hooters restaurants to the grand stage of Cirque du Soleil, the hula hoop can be seen any where. Americans all over laughed themselves silly when on an April 2010 airing of The Ellen DeGeneres Show actress Marisa Tomei demonstrated her hula hoop prowess. Belly dancers across the world also frequently involve the hip moving toy in their acts, people watching in awe hoping to pick up a hula hoop of their own and find out if they have such a talent. And it’s not just performers who are making the public once again aware of the great fun the hula hoop provides. World Hoop Day, a charity event in which several thousand hula hoops are donated to children in places like Costa Rica or Sri Lanka, has gained attention on an international scale. This year’s World Hoop Day is October 10th, keeping with the event’s tradition of having all of the numbers in the date be the same. The international attention this event has gained is with out a doubt a major boon to the hula hoop’s return to stardom.

This isn’t the first time the hula hoop has made a come back. The 1950′s was the first big hula hoop fad but alas it faded into piles of broken rings by the early 1960′s. Then came the 1980′s when electric toys had begun to dominate the market with advent of video games and Lazer Tag. The older generation began to yearn for simpler times when a toy didn’t need to make a lot of noise or cost nearly $400 to get a hold of. The article from which the above quote was taken from was entitled “Hula Hoop is Coming Around Again”, showing that even the New York Times recognized its popularity resurgence in the late 80′s.

The hula hoop is not a fancy toy, though as time has gone on toy companies have attempted to make it light up and produce sound with each twirl. The brilliance of the hula hoop comes in its simplicity and its inexpensive production cost. Perhaps in this day and age of 3-D televisions and the internet, parents are searching for a simple way to get their kids away from the glowing screen and out into the warm sun. The hula hoop is the perfect toy for just that and kids are embracing it just as much as their mothers and fathers.