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Regular Frisbee

Frisbee
1966-1969 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The history of the Frisbie is a quite a fun one. The story starts with an American pie company. The Frisbie Baking Company (1871-1958) made pies for many schools and colleges. The pies were served in pie tins with the words Frisbie's Pies embossed inside. Students discovered that it was fun to toss these pie tins at each other as they flew easily through the air. These students may have been the first to throw the Frisbie but it was Walter Frederick and Warren Fanscioni who invented the first plastic Frisbie in 1948. After the partnership broke up Morrison when on to produce a plastic Frisbie called the Pluto Platter, reflecting the interest in UFOs. The original design is still popular today and the outer third of the Frisbie is known as the Morrison slope. Morrison sold the design rights to a company called Wham-O. After a few years they renamed the Pluto Platter, Frisbee after the original Frisbie Baking Company to help increase sales. Today the Frisbee is still a popular toy seen in parks and on the beach. There is even a professional sporting game known as Frisbee Golf.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleRegular Frisbee (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Moulded plastic
Brief description
Yellow plastic frisbee made in the USA by Wham-O in the late 1960s.
Physical description
A yellow plastic disc with a curved lip, the top of the disc has grooves that ring around and smooth areas. The name Regular Frisbee is written in across the top, underneath is a leaf pattern and the company logo. On the underside of the plastic disc are the copyright information and the instructions on how to play with the Frisbee.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 22.5cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Regular Frisbee'
  • 'WHAM-O'
  • 'PLAY CATCH - INVENT GAMES / To fly, flip away backhanded / flat flip flyes straight / Tilted flip curves- experiment! / © 1966 Wham-o MFG. Co. San Gabriel .Calif. / U.S. Pat. No 3,359,678' (Underside)
  • 'FRISBEE is a reg. T.M. of Wham-O MFG. Co / for flying saucers used in sport games' (Underside)
Credit line
Given by Halina Pasierbska
Summary
The history of the Frisbie is a quite a fun one. The story starts with an American pie company. The Frisbie Baking Company (1871-1958) made pies for many schools and colleges. The pies were served in pie tins with the words Frisbie's Pies embossed inside. Students discovered that it was fun to toss these pie tins at each other as they flew easily through the air. These students may have been the first to throw the Frisbie but it was Walter Frederick and Warren Fanscioni who invented the first plastic Frisbie in 1948. After the partnership broke up Morrison when on to produce a plastic Frisbie called the Pluto Platter, reflecting the interest in UFOs. The original design is still popular today and the outer third of the Frisbie is known as the Morrison slope. Morrison sold the design rights to a company called Wham-O. After a few years they renamed the Pluto Platter, Frisbee after the original Frisbie Baking Company to help increase sales. Today the Frisbee is still a popular toy seen in parks and on the beach. There is even a professional sporting game known as Frisbee Golf.
Collection
Accession number
B.52-2004

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Record createdSeptember 16, 2004
Record URL
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