New Roof and Birthdays...

Back at work after being off to have a new roof and some siding repair done on the house. I'll have to say I am impressed with our Insurance Company. Reported wind damage on the 2/19. Had estimate in hand on 2/22 (a Sunday!). Had check in hand on 2/25. Then had to wait for good weather to get the actual work done but from start to finish....in less than 2 weeks! After listening to the people who had flood damage last year I'll admit I was leery of getting everything settled quickly. We had to add some $$ to it so we could have the garage still match the house and we put guttering up and it looks great!

March birthdays have begun...Hubby started them off on the 3/2. He got the flu for his birthday, gee isn't that a fun one.

Happy Birthday!!

3/2 Hubby
3/4 Krista (niece)
3/18 Alicia (sis)
3/20 Tom (s-i-l)
3/24 Kay (sis)
3/29 Jeremy (son)
Many, many more if I count Aunts, Uncles, cousins, in-laws and out-laws... Ok, now for some...


This Day in History:

How many of you remember when these first came out???

March 5, 1963

Hula-Hoop patented

On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company's co-founder, Arthur "Spud" Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.

In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company’s name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America's fascination with UFOs.

Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed "Hula" after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.

The enormous popularity of the Hula-Hoop was short-lived and within a matter of months, the masses were on to the next big thing. However, the Hula-Hoop never faded away completely and still has its fans today. According to Ripley's Believe It or Not, in April 2004, a performer at the Big Apple Circus in Boston simultaneously spun 100 hoops around her body. Earlier that same year, in January, according to the Guinness World Records, two people in Tokyo, Japan, managed to spin the world's largest hoop--at 13 feet, 4 inches--around their waists at least three times each.

Following the Hula-Hoop, Wham-O continued to produce a steady stream of wacky and beloved novelty items, including the Superball, Water Wiggle, Silly String, Slip 'n' Slide and the Hacky Sack.

Those were the days. Leave a comment on what your favorite childhood toy was. Until next post....