FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF EVERYDAY INVENTIONS by Patricia Hutchison 12 STORY LIBRARY
1 Pie Tins Inspire a Favorite Toy Inventor Ed Headrick in 1985 In the 1940s college students in New England loved Frisbie’s pies The fresh fruit baked between two flaky crusts tasted delicious The Frisbie Pie Company sold thousands every day Each pie came in a round tin After eating the pies students would throw the empty tins back and forth The thrower called out Frisbie to warn the catcher The term became the name of a new sport Professors at 4 Princeton University thought the game was a passing fad In 1948 business partners Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni invented their own flying disc This disc was made of plastic It flew farther than pie tins It also allowed for better aim Seven years later Morrison made improvements to the disc He sold the idea to a new toy company Wham-O Wham-O called the disc the Pluto Platter
They hoped the space-themed name would attract buyers A year later Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee Ed Headrick was an inventor at Wham-O He received a patent in 1967 for the modern Frisbee The improved disc had raised rings on its surface The rings gave the disc better stability while in the air By 200 million Approximate number of Frisbees sold In the 1940s college students used pie tins as flying discs Inventors made a plastic version of the flying disc in 1948 The toy company Wham-O sold the first Frisbee Today flying discs are used in a variety of sports 1977 Wham-O had sold more than 100 million Frisbees Today dozens of companies sell flying discs Several sports use the discs in competitions Worldwide Frisbee has been more than a passing fad 5
