6 April: Hula Hoops

On this date in 1987 Roxann Rose set the record for continuous revolution of a hula hoop (90 hours). 10 facts about hula hoops:

1. Roxann Rose’s record has since been broken and at time of writing the record holder is Jenny Doan who hula hooped for 100 hours.

2. There are also records for hula hooping on one leg (Leanna Fernandez (UK) - 2 hours, 30 minutes, 19 seconds in 2021); hula hooping in plank position (Reger Maffei (USA) - 7 minutes, 41.28 seconds in 2024); spinning the most hoops at once (Marawa Ibrahim (Australia) 200); The most people hula-hooping simultaneously (4,183 by the Department of Health and the Ministry of Public Health in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2013. The hula hoops remained in continuous motion for two minutes); and running a half marathon while hula hooping (two hours and 29 minutes by Tamara "Tats" Ward (UK) in 2025.

3. Items resembling modern hula hoops have been used since at least 500 BC.

4. The Native American Hoop Dance is a form of storytelling dance using hoops as props.

5. The modern hula hoop was inspired by Australian children playing with Bamboo hoops as the owners of an American toy company, Wham-O, happened to be driving past. They went home and made similar toys for their own children, who loved them. Even adults at cocktail parties were keen to have a go, especially when they’d imbibed a few cocktails! This told Wham-O that they had a hit on their hands and began selling them in 1958. It became a craze. More than 20 million people bought them in that year.

6. The name hula comes from the Hawaiian dance which uses similar hip movements.

7. Not all countries embraced the craze as America did. Indonesia banned them because they “might stimulate passion”; Japan forbade them on public streets; China called hula hoops “a nauseating craze” and in the Soviet Union, the hoop branded a “symbol of the emptiness of American culture.”

8. Hula hooping is nowadays a popular fitness activity with hula hooping included in the Nintendo Wii exercise package. That said, British Medical Journal has reported that the hula hoop was responsible for an increase in back, neck, and abdominal injuries.

9. At the height of the craze there were hit songs about hula hoops: one by Georgia Gibbs and another by Maureen Evans.

10. Hula Hooping Girl, a 2020 street art painting by Banksy in Nottingham portrays a young girl hula-hooping with a bicycle tyre.

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