Classic Rant #193 (February 12, 2010): Father of the Frisbee Flings Out

I heard that the inventor of what became known as the Frisbee died Tuesday. His name is Frederick Morrison, and if I just told you his name without mentioning the Frisbee, you probably wouldn't have known who I was talking about.

Anyway, from throwing pie tins with his soon to be wife, to working on this thing to get it down to what it eventually became, and to linking this thing with the UFO craze in the 1950s, Morrison, maybe unwittingly, created one of the greatest toys ever.

It simpleness really defined its bravado. Just fling this thing, and it will fly. There really weren't any other directions.

Sure, when his idea was bought by Wham-O, and he received lifetime royalties from this sale, the company took the toy to new heights. There is a certain way to fling it for maximum effect, and there are tournaments around the world for the best Frisbee throwers. And there have been variations on the theme, like Frisbee Golf.

But, when all is said and done, it all came from the mind, hard work, and aggressiveness of its developer.

I had one of those early ones, the red one that literally looked like a flying saucer. It ended up breaking, somehow splitting in the middle, rendering it useless. I should have kept it as an artifact of the time, but who knew from this in the mid 1960s?

Anyway, we owe a slight debt to Morrison, because this is a toy what just about everyone can say that they have played with at some time in their life. Certainly for baby boomers like me, that's true.

So Mr. Morrison, rest in peace. You did real good.