The Frisbee Turns 50!

In 1957, the rights to the little-known Pluto Platter was bought by a couple of college graduates, who renamed the plastic saucers the Frisbee. Prior to the plastic version, flinging metal pie tins was the sport of the day, especially at Ivy League colleges.

In 1948, the plastic version of the Frisbie pie tin was invented by Walter Morrison and named the Pluto Platter because of American interest in UFOs at the time. In 1955, Richard Knerr and Arthur Melin, owners of the new 'Wham-O' toy company, first saw the Platter; in January 1957 they purchased the rights to the design and renamed it the Frisbee.

As the story goes, Knerr and Melin chose the Frisbee name because when student players were still flinging metal pie tins, they would warn bystanders of an incoming disc by yelling "Frisbie!" The Frisbie Baking Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was the source of the pie tins. The company made the pies that were sold to several colleges in the region, and students quickly discovered the fun that could be had by tossing the empty pie tins. The new owners of the Pluto Platter made a slight change in the spelling of the baking company, and the Frisbee name was adopted and has been the identifying name of every flying plastic disc for the past 50 years.

Sales were moderate at first, but then came the 60's! In 1967, the game of Ultimate Frisbee was invented by some New Jersey high school students. The game became a recognized sport and was a cross between football, soccer, and basketball.

In 1968, the United States Navy spent more than a quarter million dollars to study Frisbees in wind tunnels and ultimately build a Frisbee launching machine on top of a cliff to test a prototype flare launcher.

In 1976, Frisbee golf was invented by Ed Headrick, who had begun designing discs for the 'Wham-O' company in the mid-60's. The game is now called disc golf and continues to be a popular disc sport today. Prior to founding the Disc Golf Association, Headrick founded the International Frisbee Association and was known for establishing and organizing the Junior and World Frisbee Championships.