The History of Frisbee

What do pigeons and pie pans have in common? Both played a vital role in the evolution of one of today's most popular toys: the Frisbee. The toy manufacturer Wham-O prefers the generic term "flying discs" for non-branded toys to differentiate them from the company's Frisbees, but most people have become so familiar with the ubiquitous discs that the catchy name now means any aerodynamic flying toy. Regardless of their proper name, the discs are a part of everything from beach recreation to professional sports like Frisbee golf and Ultimate Frisbee. 

The first sport to use flying discs was recreational shooting. Hunters once honed their skills with live birds, but clay targets flung into the air had many advantages. The clay discs flew well enough to mimic the arc of a bird in flight, so they acquired the name "pigeons." The first clay pigeons for skeet and trap shooting came into widespread use in the late 1880s. These hefty clay discs wouldn't serve well as a hand-thrown toy, though; at 10 to 16 ounces apiece, they're meant for target practice, not tossing at a friend. It wasn't until 1948 that the Frisbee went from a heavy target to a catchable disc.

The Frisbee name originated not with a toy company, but with a bakery. The Connecticut-based Frisbie Baking Company used pie tins with a wider, flatter lip than standard tins. This design produced a pie that cooled more quickly, but it also gave the empty tins an unexpected lift when tossed. College students in the region ate plenty of the inexpensive pies, leaving them with piles of tins, and quickly found that sailing the tins back and forth was great entertainment. Throwing the Frisbie evolved into a sport as well as a pastime on some campuses; trick shots and impromptu Frisbie matches became common. The fad spread throughout the country, eventually reaching the California beaches where the discs would complete the next step in their evolution. 

In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison saw games of beach Frisbie and realized that a few modifications to the tins would produce a disc with more air time. His plastic model, the Pluto Platter, had a sloped shape that helped it fly better than any pie tin. The Pluto Platter had modest success, but it wasn't until 1957 when Wham-O bought the rights to Morrison's Pluto Platter and changed the toy's name that the Frisbee really took off. The toy company wanted to call the product something that echoed the bakery's familiar name, yet looked unique. They decided on "Frisbee." 

The modern Frisbee has ridges to stabilize it, making it even better suited to sophisticated games like Ultimate Frisbee and disc golf. Trick shots that were never possible with pie tins are within the reach of even novice Frisbee slingers. Professional versions of the toy have specialized finishes and shapes to make them better suited to a particular disc sport, while glow in the dark versions permit night Frisbee games. The discs are so popular that they transcend species barriers; the game Frisbee Dog requires a canine catcher.