Wham-O called their new product the Hula Hoop. (The name had been used since the 18th century, but till then had not been registered as a trademark.) The Hula-Hoop became the biggest toy fad in modern history. Twenty-five million were sold in four months, and in two years sales reached more than 100 million. "Hula Hoop mania" continued through the end of 1959, and netted Wham-O US$45 million (US$346M adjusted for inflation to 2012). Shortly thereafter, the company had another huge success with the Frisbee. In 1955, inventor Fred Morrison began marketing a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter. He
What They Did to Princess Paragon What They Did to Princess Paragon What They Did to Princess Paragon is a humor novel by Robert Rodi, which tells the story of what happens when a venerable comic book superheroine is retconned as a lesbian. Gay comic book creator Brian Parrish is hired by Bang Comics to take over "Princess Paragon", a superhero comic book that's been around since the 1940s, but whose sales are slumping badly by the 1990s. Parrish decides to reimagine Princess Paragon as a lesbian, a move which causes quite a bit of excitement and publicity for Bang, but also causes consternation among some