Joan Anderson - The Hula Hoop Queen
Podcast: History DispatchesPublished On: Thu Nov 13 2025
Description: In the mid 1950s, Australian-born Joan Anderson brought back an innocuous bamboo hoop from her home country to the United States. She would dub it the hula hoop, and present it to a major toy manufacturer. What followed was the hula hoop craze. Unfortunately, she did not see a single penny from the wildly popular toy. This is the story of Joan Anderson and the Hula Hoop. Sources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6J32JLRNOk https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70x4w4z138o History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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