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How To Make 8 Ball On Break

Foreground: Koosh ball inventor Scott Stillinger playing with several of his brawl-shaped blobs while jumping on an unseen trampoline. Background: Stock epitome of Koosh ball. Photos courtesy: Acey Harper/Getty Images; Lightspruch/iStock

We live in a culture often defined by consumerism, and kids' toys are certainly a huge part of that. Every twelvemonth, new toys are released that are more than technologically advanced, more circuitous, more expensive and, well, only more. But one of the hilarious truths of childhood is that sometimes the simplest toys are the ones that are the well-nigh fun.

Here's an example. When I was a child, I was really into the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips and books by Beak Watterson. In Calvin and Hobbes, there was an ongoing joke in which Calvin would find a big, empty cardboard box, and through the magic of the imagination plow it into a "Duplicator" (which would make cloned copies of him) or — in a real torso horror kind of twist — a "Transmogrifier," which would transform him into various other creatures. Of course, the joke hither was that it was all nearly the imagination. It was always just a paper-thin box.

In the spirit of the cardboard box and other incredibly simple toys, I think it'due south fourth dimension to celebrate the Koosh ball, the hit toy of 1987 that was just a ball with a bunch of rubber bands sticking out of it. Described in the early days equally "a cantankerous between a porcupine and a bowl of Clot-O," Koosh balls were a huge hit the moment they came out. Those same Koosh balls are, remarkably, however a hit now, 35 years later. Simple as it remains, notwithstanding, there are some things about the Koosh that may surprise you.

The Koosh Started With a Simple Game of Catch

Koosh Ball inventor Scott Stillinger in 1998. Photo Courtesy: Acey Harper/Getty Images

Charmingly, inventor Scott Stillinger came upwardly with the Koosh ball as a way of pedagogy his kids to play catch. His kids were 5 and eight at the time, and he wanted to create a ball that "was soft, bounceless and piece of cake to grasp." Mission accomplished.

The 1987 patent for the Koosh brawl puts it best. "1 of the issues with many conventional throwing/catching devices is that, on impact, they practise not blot much energy, and accordingly, tend to bounce and get away from one's grasp hands. As well, they sometimes hurt to catch."

The Koosh's many tiny filaments disperse free energy in the softest way possible and prevent the ball from bouncing, despite being fabricated entirely of prophylactic. Take you e'er tried to throw a Koosh ball at someone? Equally a kid of the Koosh era, I can tell yous: It'southward not very satisfying. When it hits y'all, it basically feels like a soft breeze.

Koosh stock photograph. Photo Courtesy: Sven Schmutzler/iStock

The simplicity of the Koosh becomes all the more profound when yous consider that, when Time mag listed the 100 Greatest Toys, Koosh made the cut. It was one of only a few balls to be listed, aslope the embankment ball, the Magic 8 Ball, the Wiffle brawl, the SuperBall and the NERF ball. That's some illustrious company, and just goes to bear witness how ingenious Koosh's many developments were.

The Koosh Is a Perfect Example of Onomatopoeia

It's probably the English language instructor in me coming out here, but the word "Koosh" is a classic example of onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia, of form, is when a word is created from the sound of what is beingness named. Buzz, hiss, etc. — these are other examples.

When Stillinger named the Koosh, he named information technology for the sound it makes when information technology hits your paw. Close your optics and listen, and yous can about hear it. It's hard to say exactly what the impact of a name like this is, simply it is my house stance that a huge part of the success of the Koosh ball is directly related to how fun the word itself is.

Related: The inventor of the Koosh chosen the thousands of little rubber filaments that project from the middle "feelers." This is appropriate, since the Koosh does await like some kind of sci-fi lifeform that crash-landed in the desert and found its fashion into our lives.

The Koosh Ball Starred on The Rosie O'Donnell Show

The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired on daytime tv from 1996 until 2002, was at the center of the Koosh'south impact on popular culture. Part of the lighthearted atmosphere of the talk bear witness involved Rosie flinging Kooshes into the audience. It'due south hard to explain why this was such a large deal at the time, but it was. In some ways, it was the well-nigh famous thing about the bear witness.

Rosie O'Donnell somewhat ominously holding a Koosh Flingshot on her show in 1996. Photo Courtesy: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

That became even more true in 2001 when an audience fellow member named Lucille DeBellis sued after getting hit in the confront with a Koosh. What'south more, it was a Koosh flung by a special Koosh-flinging device called a Flingshot! DeBellis sued for $three million and eventually settled, simply it's non known how much she settled for. Given the safety precautions enumerated in the Koosh's original patent, it'south a picayune hard to imagine that the Koosh caused much harm, just who am I to judge?

Style back in 1988, v years before Ruth Bader Ginsberg finally became a justice on the Supreme Courtroom, she was a judge on the United states of america Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In that capacity, she ruled in a copyright case involving the Koosh ball.

We don't necessarily need to get into the legalese of this here, but the instance arrived after a series of appeals, and RBG ended up ruling that the courtroom couldn't rule on the example after all. Still, the fact that the Koosh ball ended upward in the court of a judge who would get on to sit down on the Supreme Court is a kind of hilarious plough of events.

Koosh Balls Have Lots of Other Uses

The Koosh, like many simple objects, has uses beyond its original purpose. When you consider the fact that the Koosh was invented in part every bit an educational device for helping kids learn to play catch, this checks out.

For one thing, Kooshes have been used in artistic projects from design to painting. The unique texture of the Koosh makes it possible to create all kinds of interesting finishes.

The Koosh is too a great tool for stress relief in all kinds of fun contexts, merely the Koosh has more serious applications in therapy too. For example, Koosh assurance tin can exist used in therapeutic techniques treating trichotillomania, a compulsive pilus-pulling disorder.

When you add it all upward, there's no denying the staying power of the Koosh ball. It's such a perfect little toy — fun to play take hold of with, and useful in all kinds of other situations. It'southward been one of the virtually pop toys around for 35 years, and it'll probably be pop for the next 35, too.

Source: https://www.ask.com/culture/koosh-ball-facts?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex&ueid=b38b1835-d42c-4309-a1f3-a1ac0c1eca59

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