On this day, January 23, 1920, Fred Morrison, inventor of the "Pluto Platter" flying disc, was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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• 1957 – American inventor Fred Morrison sold the rights to his "flying disc" to the Wham-O toy company, who later renamed it the "Frisbee" (example pictured).


A Frisbee brand flying disc

It was also Fred Morrison's birthday.

Walter Frederick Morrison


Morrison promoting his Pluto Platters, the forerunner of the Frisbee, in the 1950s

Born: January 23, 1920; Richfield, Utah, U.S.
Died: February 9, 2010 (aged 90); Monroe, Utah, U.S.
Nationality: American
Occupations: Inventor, entrepreneur

Walter Frederick Morrison (January 23, 1920 – February 9, 2010) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, who invented the Frisbee.

Early life

Walter Fredrick "Fred" Morrison was born on January 23, 1920, in Richfield, Utah, the son of Dr. Walter F. Morrison, an optometrist.

Career

Morrison stated that the original idea for a flying disc toy came to him in 1937, while throwing a popcorn can lid with his girlfriend, Lucile Eleanor "Lu" Nay (1920–1987), whom he later married on April 3, 1939, in Los Angeles, California. The popcorn can lid soon dented which led to the discovery that cake pans flew better and were more common. A year later, Morrison and Lu were offered 25 cents for a cake pan that they were tossing back and forth on a Santa Monica, California, beach. Morrison detailed, in a 2007 interview, "That got the wheels turning, because 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." Morrison and Lu developed a little business selling "Flyin' Cake Pans" on the beaches of Los Angeles.

During World War II Morrison learned something of aerodynamics flying his P-47 Thunderbolt in Italy. He was shot down and was a prisoner of war for 48 days.

In 1946, Morrison sketched out a design (called the Whirlo-Way) for the world's first flying disc. In 1948 an investor, Warren Franscioni, paid for molding the design in plastic. They named it the Flyin-Saucer. After disappointing sales, Fred and Warren parted ways in early 1950. In 1954, Fred bought more of the Saucers from the original molders to sell at local fairs, but soon found he could produce his own disc more cheaply. In 1955, he and Lu designed the Pluto Platter, the archetype of all modern flying discs. On January 23, 1957, they sold the rights for the Pluto Platter to the Wham-O toy company. Initially Wham-O continued to market the toy solely as the "Pluto Platter", but by June 1957 they also began using the name Frisbee after learning that college students in the Northeast were calling the Pluto Platter by that name. Morrison also invented several other products for Wham-O, but none were as successful as the Pluto Platter.

{snip}

Hat tip, IcyPeas

Sat Jan 23, 2021: January 23, 1957, Wham-O toy introduces the Frisbee

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Fred lacked marketing savvy. He used 2-word names for his product. Now the Frisbee. /nt

[NBachers]

2. We had a Pluto Platter in my family.

[rsdsharp]

3. So did we, although if it ever had that hi lighting, it had worn off before I saw it.

Ours was just red.

[NBachers]

4. Yes, ours was just red too.

[Lars39]

5. Lard bucket lids were used long before he made his discovery.