Walter Frederick Morrison facts for kids
Walter Fredrick "Fred" Morrison (born January 23, 1920, died February 9, 2010) was an American inventor. He is famous for inventing the Frisbee, a popular flying disc toy.
Early life
Walter Fredrick "Fred" Morrison was born on January 23, 1920, in Richfield, Utah. His father, Dr. Walter F. Morrison, was an eye doctor.
How the Frisbee Was Born
Fred Morrison first got the idea for a flying disc toy in 1937. He was throwing a popcorn can lid with his girlfriend, Lucile Eleanor "Lu" Nay. They later got married in 1939. The popcorn can lid got bent easily. They soon found that cake pans flew much better and were easy to find.
A year later, Fred and Lu were throwing a cake pan on a beach in Santa Monica, California. Someone offered them 25 cents to buy it! Fred realized this could be a business. He said, "You could buy a cake pan for five cents, and if people on the beach were willing to pay a quarter for it, well—there was a business." So, Fred and Lu started a small business selling "Flyin' Cake Pans" on the beaches of Los Angeles.
During World War II, Fred learned a lot about how things fly. He was a pilot and flew a P-47 Thunderbolt plane in Italy. His plane was shot down, and he was a prisoner of war for 48 days. This experience helped him understand how to design things that fly well.
In 1946, Fred drew a design for the world's first flying disc. He called it the "Whirlo-Way." In 1948, an investor helped him make the design out of plastic. They named this new disc the "Flyin-Saucer." It didn't sell very well, so Fred and his partner stopped working together in 1950.
Fred kept trying. In 1954, he bought more "Flyin-Saucers" to sell at local fairs. But he soon realized he could make his own discs even cheaper. In 1955, he and Lu designed a new disc called the "Pluto Platter." This was the first version of the modern Frisbee.
On January 23, 1957, they sold the rights to the "Pluto Platter" to the Wham-O toy company. Wham-O first sold it as the "Pluto Platter." But they soon learned that college students were calling it a "Frisbee." This name came from a pie company called the Frisbie Pie Company. Students used to throw their empty pie tins around. By June 1957, Wham-O started using the name Frisbee for the toy. Fred also invented other toys for Wham-O, but none became as famous as the Frisbee.
Personal life
Fred Morrison and his wife, Lucile Nay Morrison, had three children: a son and two daughters. They divorced in 1969 but got married again in 1971. They later divorced a second time. Lucile passed away in 1987. Fred Morrison died at his home in Monroe, Utah, on February 9, 2010, when he was 90 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Walter Frederick Morrison para niños
