Dana Daly

Often, one big name is responsible for many major successes. Some of the most enduring and popular toys came from one company. In fact, most of our favorite toys all come from Wham-O. The American toy company is based in Carson, California. For over 70 years, Wham-O successfully marketed and sold countless favorite toys. Though technology has become a go-to for some kids, Wham-O toys feel special and lasting. The fondness we feel is a statement of defiance as much as it is a testament to their nostalgic power. Read this list to see which of your favorite toys are actually the product of one successful company: Wham-O. Slip N' Slide is an example of a Wham-O title that stuck around The slip n' slide is one Wham-O toy still pretty popular today / Nostalgia Central You shouldn't want to get stuck on a slip n' slide, but we're glad the toy itself stuck around. Advertisements for this outdoor set circulated for years and presented a layout people at home should try for themselves until they could buy one. RELATED: McDonald’s Is Bringing Back Retro Happy Meals Toys To Celebrate 40th Anniversary Slip n' slides provide that burst of refreshing speed every kid needs during the summer. No need to trek to a water park or befriend someone with a pool (though that all also sounds nice). Instead, this simple stretch of refreshing fun helped stay cool in the summer heat. The Wheelie Bar made cool stunts safe A Wheelie Bar made some moves a bit safer / dirtlegal Bring in any item with wheels on it, and anyone is going to want to whirl around on it. Chairs with wheels, shopping carts, scooters, even flatbed carts provided fun. Even if the product is meant to be used as a toy, people still tried to anyway. And even if something is meant for fun, that doesn't make them totally safe. Bumps and scrapes are pretty common for kids who spend their days playing outside. But some activities can be more serious. For those looking to impress friends on their bicycle, leaning too far back could mean falling and damaging the neck. Wham-O solved that issue, not with a toy so much as with a new layout. The Wheelie Bar made pulling off fun tricks just a bit safer. It enabled our innate addiction for wild moves! Cool down again with Water Wiggles The Water Wiggle toy was unpredictable fun in the sun / Worth Point Don't be afraid to catch some more sun because of the heat. Throw some sunscreen on and enjoy all the fun toys Wham-O made that give people an excuse to get some cool, refreshing water. Hook up a hose to some Water Wiggles and you have yourself some delightful chaos. This plastic-enclosed curved nozzle became airborne when fed water from a hose. Much like letting air from a balloon, this formula yielded some unpredictable results. But maybe that's what made it all the more fun. Only some people will love Silly String Silly string is fun to play with, not to clean / Meaningful Mama Silly String is very fun...in theory. And in practice. But only for those actually playing with the stuff. For those tasked with cleaning it up, this Wham-O toy probably received a lot of muttering and glaring. Also sometimes called aerosol string, this contraption involved many strands of brightly-colored string. That string was propelled from an aerosol can containing a solvent that made the strand continuous. Pieces inevitably broke apart, however, and that made the mess spread only farther still. Silly String got everywhere once unleashed at parties, from the lawn to hair to furniture. Read onto the NEXT page for more nostalgic Wham-O products... Wham-O got us moving with the Hacky Sack This Wham-O toy got us really active / Flaghouse Already, we're brought right back to long days spent playing outside with friends and family. The neighborhood was just one big land to explore, structures to climb on, spaces to crawl into. When the world is your playground, there's a lot to keep you active. Wham-O also designed toys to keep us moving. Particularly famous among these is the Hacky Sack. Filled with grains or rice, this sack compelled players to keep kicking so the sack stayed in the air. The item itself also gave the activity its name: a game of footbag. Players often worked as a team during rounds of footbag. They didn't throw in the towel - they threw us the Frisbee Wham-O put a welcome twist on an ancient favorite / Globe Gazette The Hacky Sack isn't the only Wham-O toy to get a whole sport fad behind it. This comes with some history, though, as the ancient Greeks did have Wham-O beat hundreds of years ago. Ancient Greeks threw a discus for sport around the 8th century BC. Since then, similar activities cropped up throughout the centuries. However, Wham-O contributed in making the Frisbee a mainstream fad in the United States. This is an example of a method Wham-O employed throughout a few toys it designed. It both created and responded to national trends in equal measure. And so Wham-O helped popularize the Hula Hoop Wham-O's marketing of a plastic Hula Hoop made this toy a universal sensation / thecourier.co.uk In this case, we see Wham-O contributing to a fad, creating one. Like the Frisbee, Hula Hoops have a history that goes a bit beyond Wham-O, but remember that part of this company's success was its skillful marketing and development. As a result, the Hula Hoop gained newfound popularity. By the 1950s, Wham-O marketed a plastic version of this giant ring that made the Hula Hoop something of a national and international sensation. With the Turbo Tube, they responded to a national trend Like the Water Wigglers, the Turbo Tube was an unpredictable Wham-O toy / Worth Point As mankind looked to the stars above, so too did the products he used. Technology became evidently more advanced and our imaginations grew with it. We wanted to get a taste for soaring up away from the world and gliding through the air like those titans of space could. Enter the Turbo Tube. Propelled by "gyro-action," this tube was something like the Water Wiggles but dryer. For better or worse, they had multiple similarities. In theory, a Turbo Tube followed a certain path through the air, but really, these things could have a mind of their own. Still, that similar bout of chaos made for some pretty interesting moments. Look through the Magic Window, one of Wham-O's calmer toys The Magic Window gave a calmer playing experience / Click Americana If you didn't want to worry about dodging rogue tubing or choking on dangerous devices, Wham-O made some more subdued toys to play with. They brought us the Magic Window, ingenious in its design and function. Originally blue and white, the Magic Window eventually came in glow-in-the-dark versions to mix things up. Microdium (glass) crystals in varying colors sat between two plates provided all the fun any kid needed. When shifted, the tiny particles created mesmerizing patterns. Every movement provided a new piece of artwork. Provided the toy stayed intact, parents didn't have to worry about this Wham-O toy. But that company did make quite a few. What are some of your favorites? Wham-O made all of our favorite toys / Logos Discovery Engine RELATED: Our Favorite Retro Toys Still Available Today