The Coolest Toys of the 1960s

Hula Hoop

Unsplash

It’s a plastic circle you swing around your waist. You know, for kids! The hula hoop has early, wide-varying origins dating back to ancient Native American rituals, 14th-century English medicinal techniques and 18th-century Hawaiian dances. But in 1957, a woman named Joan Anderson brought a hoop to America from Australia, inventing the name “hula hoop” at a dinner party. The rest, including its explosive popularity through the ’60s, is hula history.

Scroll to Top