Space Hopper - History

History

The space hopper was invented by Aquilino Cosani of Ledragomma, an Italian company that manufactured toy rubber balls. He patented the idea in Italy in 1968, and in the United States in 1971. Cosani called the toy "Pon-Pon".

Space hoppers were introduced to the UK in 1969 — the Cambridge Evening News newspaper, England, contained an advertisement for the hopper in November of that year and described it as a "trend". The space hopper became a major craze during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The original UK space hopper was manufactured by Mettoy (Mettoy-Corgi). Wembley made a similar model which had smooth handles rather than the ribbed original. The orange kangaroo design is now available in adult-sized versions in the UK.

In the United States, the first mass-marketed hopping ball (a version of an earlier European toy) was the Hoppity Hop, released by the Sun company around 1968. Because of the market and media saturation by this toy, any such ball — regardless of origin — is now generally known in the U.S. by that name (or sometimes "hippity hop").

The earliest Hoppity Hops were made of rubber (usually red or blue) with a round ring handle on top and automotive tire valve for inflation. In the 1970s Sun introduced various character versions of the Hoppity Hop, such as the Hoppity Horse, Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (with hard plastic versions of the character's head attached to the ball).

The Hoppity Hop sold rather steadily for decades, but by the 1990s sales apparently started to slip due to increased competition from foreign hoppers. At some point the Hoppity Hop came to be made of a vinyl-like material, some molded in fluorescent colors. The Hoppity Hop now appears to have been discontinued, but the original — sometimes still in the box — comes up from time to time on online auction sites.

According to advertising materials, the Hoppity Hop's original targets were both adults and children. Since the balls only inflated to around 20 inches (510 mm), however, it is doubtful that any but the shortest adults could have gotten much use out of one.

Today, numerous versions can be found in most stores, ranging anywhere from 16–24 inches (410–610 mm). Many are manufactured in China.

The European "Hop!" balls appeared in the early 1990s and are still available. Made by Italy's Ledragomma/Ledraplastic, these are essentially the quality Gymnic exercise ball with a handle attached. The sizes of these balls range from the "Hop! 45" to the "Hop! 66" (66 cm, about 26 in).

While it is still used for fun and exercise by many adults, the Hop! 66 is still borderline child-sized. So demand for truly adult-proportioned hopping balls was met with two notable items. The first of these was Kitt 2000 Velp of the Netherlands Mega Skippyballs, a large hopping ball which by virtue of its size was intended only for adult use. There were three sizes: 120 centimetres (47 in), 100 centimetres (39 in) and 80 centimetres (31 in). The Mega Skippyballs are made of extra strong vinyl, and in the Netherlands there are various Skippyball races and Skippyball championships.