Stuff You Should Know – "SYSK's 12 Days of Christmas… Toys: Hula-Hoops: The Toy That's A Shape"

Podcast: Stuff You Should Know
Hosts: Josh Clark & Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant
Original Air Date: December 12, 2025
Episode Description:
A deep-dive into the fascinating history, wild fads, and physics of the hula hoop, tracing its journey from ancient times to American toy craze, pop culture, and modern hooping fitness.

Episode Overview

In this fun and informative installment of the "12 Days of Christmas… Toys" series, Josh and Chuck set out to explore the humble but iconic hula hoop. Combining classic SYSK wit with curious historical dazzlers, the hosts orbit through the toy's ancient origins, mid-century American mania, surprising banned status, and its vibrant rebirth as exercise and art.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Playful Introduction & Personal Anecdotes (03:00 – 05:16)

• Josh and Chuck open with banter about adult hula-hooping embarrassment and Jerry’s imaginary "hula fire dance."
• Chuck describes seeing an "amazing" hoop dance at a local Atlanta festival, sparking his realization of the resurgence of hula hooping as both workout and performance art.
  • "I videoed it. It was so awesome." —Chuck [04:32]

Ancient History of the Hoop (05:28 – 13:57)

• Ancient Egypt (ca. 1000 BCE): Children used dried grapevines as hoops to play.
  • "There are little Egyptian children...with dried up grapevines they've made into hoops, playing with them." —Chuck [05:55]
• Ancient Greece and Rome: Hoops were used for fitness and decorated with bells; Ganymede depicted on a 5th c. BC urn with a hoop sparked Olympic speculation.
  • "Supposedly there's an old 5th century BC urn of him...and a hoop. A hula hoop." —Josh [08:24]
• Britain: Middle Ages "hoop rolling" and dangerous games like "kill the hoop" (throwing spears through rolling hoops).
• Native American Traditions: Various tribes performed ritual hoop dances, notably revived by Tony White Cloud (Yemez Pueblo) in the 1930s.
  • "By 1991 there were national hoop dancing competitions in New Mexico." —Josh [13:36]
• Cahokia's "Chunky": Large-scale ancient game with rolling stone "hoops" and spear-throwing—more like bocce in mechanics.

The “Hula” Connection and the Modern Toy Craze (17:04 – 22:21)

• Etymology: 18th-century British sailors observed Polynesian hula dance and applied the term "hula" to the hip-gyrating hoop activity. No literal hoop in the hula dance!
  • "So the term hula became applied to the hoop, especially when you used your hips to gyrate..." —Josh [17:59]
• Swiss Eurythmics → Australia → Wham-O (USA):
  • Swiss educator Emile Jaques-Dalcroze developed Eurythmics for dance/fitness using hoops.
  • Eurythmics imported to Australia as PE; Richard Knerr & Arthur "Spud" Melin, founders of Wham-O, took inspiration and created the plastic "hula hoop."
  • The first hoops were 40 inches, cost $1.98, and came in bright colors.
  • "Hula hoop craze in 1958 was born." —Chuck [21:46]

Hula Hoop Fad & Aftermath (21:51 – 24:01)

• The Phenomenon: 100 million sold in six months (summer-autumn 1958).
  • "Flash in the pan craze…these things were rotting in the warehouse" shortly after launch. —Josh [21:55]
• No Patent Reflection: Wham-O could not patent the hoop, only trademark the name.
  • "They trademarked the name Hula Hoop in the United States..." —Chuck [23:07]
• Competitions and Music: National contests ran 1968–1981. Numerous hula hoop songs emerged during the craze.
• Records and Endurance Feats: Not limited to the past! Modern records—e.g., hula hooping for over 74 hours (Aaron Hibbs, 2009) and spinning 132 hoops simultaneously (Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair).

Cultural Impact & Representations (26:15 – 27:14)

• The Hudsucker Proxy: The Coen Brothers' film features a fictionalized story of the hula hoop's invention, prompting a debate about the merits of Coen Brothers’ films.
  • "Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Newman in a fictitious tale of the invention of the Hula Hoop." —Chuck [26:51]

The Physics of Hula Hooping (30:41 – 35:14)

• Angular Momentum & Torque: Conservation of angular momentum and torque applied by hip rotation keeps the hoop up.
  • "You are the axis." —Chuck [31:37]
  • "When you move your hips around...you're applying what's called torque." —Josh [31:39]
• Friction: Friction, ironically, both slows down and keeps the hoop from falling.
  • "Ironically, that same friction is keeping it from doing that [falling]." —Josh [31:55]
• Body Mechanics: Knees, hips, ankles all involved; scientific studies confirmed variability by individual.
  • "Depends on the motion of your ocean." —Chuck [34:46]
• Notable Record: Someone hula-hooped with a 54-pound tractor tire for 70 seconds!

Types of Hoop Play & Hula-Hoop Games (35:14 – 38:06)

• Standard Hooping: Hip-rotation for endurance or speed.
• Hoop Dancing: Involves moving the hoop across neck, arms, legs for performance (becoming a modern art form).
• Hoop Rolling (Trundling): Rolling the hoop along the ground with a stick or hand, echoing ancient practice.
• Other Games: Belgian ankle skipping, hoop jumping, "return the hoop" (letting it spin back), "hoop your environment" (using hoops as islands in imaginative play).
  • "Are we gonna start doing that? ...We're gonna get emails." —Josh & Chuck exchange [36:01–36:11]

Hula Hooping as Exercise (38:10 – 40:39)

• Hoop as Fitness Phenomenon:
  • Marisa Tomei used hooping to get in shape for "The Wrestler."
  • Michelle Obama promoted hooping at the White House.
• Calorie Burn: Weighted hoops used in a study led to women burning ~210 calories in 30 mins (comparable to weightlifting).
  • "That's good exercise, people." —Chuck [39:25]
• Core Strength: Besides calorie count, hooping builds significant core strength.

Modern Hooping: Art, Culture, and Social Effects (40:44 – 43:13)

• Performance: LED and fire-decorated hoops light up music festivals.
• Long-Exposure Photography: Captures the intricate, almost chaotic paths of LED hoops.
• Performance Art: Sigalit Landau’s "Barbed Hula" (2003) used barbed wire hoop as a political statement about Israeli borders.
• Social Commentary:
  • Hula hoops were banned in 1950s Japan for being suggestive.
  • The Soviet Union decried the hula hoop as a symbol of American cultural emptiness.
  • "It was evidence of the emptiness of American culture." —Josh [42:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The hula hoop has been around in some form or fashion since before most of the world's religions." —Josh [05:36]
• "People would get injured...early physicians...would pull up their plague mask, just long enough to be like, stay away from hula hoops." —Josh [10:13]
• "So the term hula became applied to the hoop, especially when you used your hips to gyrate...these British sailors ended up applying the word hula to it and it stuck." —Josh [17:59]
• "By the end of 1958, these things were rotting in the warehouse. But...they sold...100 million hula hoops." —Josh [21:58]
• "They couldn't [patent] because it was so demonstrably an ancient invention that nobody could patent it." —Josh [22:59]
• "[Hooping] is legitimate exercise...151 BPM...burning 210 calories during a half hour of hooping." —Chuck [39:17, 39:25]
• "The Soviets said that it was...evidence of the emptiness of American culture, the hula hoop craze." —Josh [42:40]

Segment Timestamps

• Opening banter & hula hooping in adulthood: 03:00–05:16
• Ancient to pre-modern history: 05:28–13:57
• "Hula" name & global craze origins: 17:04–22:21
• Wham-O & 1958 American fad: 21:51–24:01
• Cultural sensations & odd records: 24:01–29:14
• Physics of hooping: 30:41–35:14
• Types of hoop games: 35:14–38:06
• Exercise & health benefits: 38:10–40:39
• Hooping in modern art & social critiques: 40:44–43:13

Tone & Style

Playful, curious, and brimming with friendly skepticism, Josh and Chuck use their signature blend of humor, tangents, and deft storytelling to make the story of hula hoops as fun as the toy itself.

For More Information

• Learn more at ...howstuffworks.com and check out SYSK’s archive for related toy and physics episodes.
• For hula hoop history: [Time Magazine, "All-Time 100 Toys"]
• For modern hoop fitness: [Journal of Physical Activity & Health]

"First of all, Chuck, I want to do an episode...But there are so many medical myths out there that are just taken as fact."
—Josh, teeing up future SYSK deep dives [39:36]

End of Summary