Throughout history, hoops have been used in various cultures for a number of purposes. In ancient Greece, citizens used a hoop as a form of exercise. In Greece around 3,000 years ago, hoops made out of grape vines were propelled around the ground with sticks. Native Americans used hoops as a target for teaching accuracy for hunting
Plastic hula hoops were first manufactured and sold in Australia. In 1957, Coles department store sold bamboo hoops, but the supplier couldn't produce enough to meet demand. So they invited Alex Tolmer, the founder of Toltoys, to produce plastic ones. Toltoys sold 400,000 plastic hoops in 1957. In 1958, Melin and Knerr of Wham-O started to market hula hoops in the USA. Wham-O sold 25 million in the first four months and over 100 million in its first year. The craze lasted from January to October, then died down somewhat. In only four months, an estimated 80 to 100 million of them were sold in 1958. Hula Hoops became famous all over the world. In Indonesia, playing with a hoop in public was banned because in that culture it was not socially acceptable to shake one's hips in public. Later in 1965, Wham-O developed hoops with several ball bearings trapped inside of the ring.
World Records
Duration
An early duration record for the hula hoop was set by 11-year-olds Paulette Robinson, Charles Beard and Patsy Jo Grigby in Jackson, Mississippi lasting 11 hours and 34 minutes (August, 1960). The event was sponsored by radio station WOKJ. 8-year-old Mary Jane Freeze, won a hooping endurance contest on 19 August 1976, by lasting 10 hours and 47 minutes. The current record is held by Roxann Rose of the USA, who went 90 hours between 2 April and 6 April 1987.
Most Hula Hoops Twirled at Once
The record for the most hoops twirled simultaneously is 107, set by Alesya Gouleviche of Belarus, on June 15, 2009.
Hoop running
Records for running while twirling a hula hoop around the waist are:
- 100 m: 13.84 seconds, by Roman Schedler (Austria), 16 July 1994
- 1 mile: 7:47, by Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair (USA), date unknown
- 10 km, men: 1:06:35, by Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair (USA), date unknown
- 10 km, women: 1:43:11, by Betty (Shurin) Hoops (USA), 30 May 2005 & listed in the Guinness World Records.
Other records
The largest hoop successfully twirled was 13.88 meters (45.55 ft) in circumference, by Ashrita Furman of the USA (September, 2005). The record for simultaneous hula-hooping (minimum time: 2 minutes) is for 2,290 participants at Chung Cheng Stadium in Kaohsiung (Taiwan) on 28 October 2000.
In 2000, Roman Schedler spun a 53-pound tractor tire for 71 seconds at the 5th Saxonia Record Festival in Bregenz, Austria.
In April 2008, Team Hooprama hula hooped the Music City Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) to raise awareness for Hooping for Hope
