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MEMORIES:
BabyG remembers...I loved hopping around my back yard with my red hop. Mine didnt have a character head though. Just a ... More »
Posted on 01/18/09
PHOTOS:
Manufacturer:
Most adults have looked at children and at some point wondered, “did I use to be like that? So engrossed? So oblivious? So… bizarre?” True. Every adult was at one time a child, doing that which caused adults then to shake their heads or smile and say to themselves, “ah, to be a kid again.” And for a prime example of childish behavior that appeals to even the crankiest grownup, one need look no further than the art of bouncing.
Yes, bouncing. What child has ever displayed a propensity for walking when there’s running, jumping, climbing, crawling, hopping, bouncing, and any number of impractical and imaginative ways to get from here to there?
An Italian toy maker by the name of Aquilino Cosani believed the answer to be “none” and proved it with the invention of the Pon-Pon, a large rubber ball about two feet in diameter with two handles poking out of the top. Cosani worked for toy rubber ball manufacturer Ledragomma and patented the idea in 1968.
Across the Pond, meanwhile, the Sun company released their version, the Hoppity Hop. Sun’s rubber balls were similar in dimension but had rings for handles at the top and were inflated by way of a tire valve. At first, the Hoppity Hop (or Hippity Hop) came in red or blue, but soon Hoppity Hops like the Bouncin’ Ride Tigger or Donald Duck began to show up with a famous cartoon character’s head in place of the handle. Soon, neighborhoods echoed with the pwowm, pwowm, pwowm of Hoppity Hops bouncing over the concrete.
Thanks to the strong rubber construction and a little care not to overinflate, Hoppity Hops were extremely durable. They sold steadily until the 1990s when cheaper foreign competition flooded the market. Hoppity Hops made from a vinyl-like material sold for a short while but most Hoppity Hops today are found on online auctions.
Technically, it’s as simple as air in a rubber ball. But children everywhere, and even many adults, couldn’t resist the clarion call to bounce. Why not? After all, it is hard to keep a good thing down.
