How To Get A Boost Ball

Foreground: Koosh ball inventor Scott Stillinger playing with several of his ball-shaped blobs while jumping on an unseen trampoline. Background: Stock epitome of Koosh ball. Photos courtesy: Acey Harper/Getty Images; Lightspruch/iStock

Nosotros alive in a culture often defined by consumerism, and kids' toys are certainly a huge office of that. Every year, new toys are released that are more technologically advanced, more than complex, more expensive and, well, just more than. Just one of the hilarious truths of babyhood is that sometimes the simplest toys are the ones that are the about fun.

Hither's an example. When I was a kid, I was really into the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips and books by Neb Watterson. In Calvin and Hobbes, there was an ongoing joke in which Calvin would find a big, empty cardboard box, and through the magic of the imagination plough information technology into a "Duplicator" (which would make cloned copies of him) or — in a real body horror kind of twist — a "Transmogrifier," which would transform him into various other creatures. Of course, the joke here was that it was all about the imagination. It was always just a paper-thin box.

In the spirit of the cardboard box and other incredibly elementary toys, I think it'southward time to celebrate the Koosh ball, the hit toy of 1987 that was merely a ball with a agglomeration of safety bands sticking out of it. Described in the early days equally "a cross between a porcupine and a basin of Jell-O," Koosh balls were a huge hit the moment they came out. Those aforementioned Koosh balls are, remarkably, still a hit at present, 35 years later. Simple as information technology remains, however, there are some things about the Koosh that may surprise you.

The Koosh Started With a Simple Game of Grab

Koosh Ball inventor Scott Stillinger in 1998. Photograph Courtesy: Acey Harper/Getty Images

Charmingly, inventor Scott Stillinger came upwards with the Koosh ball as a manner of teaching his kids to play catch. His kids were 5 and 8 at the time, and he wanted to create a ball that "was soft, bounceless and easy to grasp." Mission achieved.

The 1987 patent for the Koosh ball puts it best. "One of the issues with many conventional throwing/catching devices is that, on impact, they practise not blot much energy, and appropriately, tend to bounce and get away from one'south grasp easily. Also, they sometimes injure to catch."

The Koosh's many tiny filaments disperse energy in the softest style possible and preclude the ball from bouncing, despite existence fabricated entirely of rubber. Have yous ever tried to throw a Koosh ball at someone? As a child of the Koosh era, I can tell yous: It'south non very satisfying. When information technology hits y'all, information technology basically feels similar a soft breeze.

Koosh stock photo. Photo Courtesy: Sven Schmutzler/iStock

The simplicity of the Koosh becomes all the more than profound when you consider that, when Fourth dimension mag listed the 100 Greatest Toys, Koosh made the cut. Information technology was ane of only a few balls to be listed, alongside the beach ball, the Magic viii Ball, the Wiffle ball, the SuperBall and the NERF brawl. That's some illustrious company, and just goes to evidence how ingenious Koosh's many developments were.

The Koosh Is a Perfect Case of Onomatopoeia

It's probably the English language instructor in me coming out here, but the word "Koosh" is a classic example of onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia, of course, is when a word is created from the sound of what is being named. Fizz, hiss, etc. — these are other examples.

When Stillinger named the Koosh, he named it for the sound information technology makes when it hits your hand. Close your eyes and listen, and y'all can almost hear information technology. It'southward hard to say exactly what the affect of a proper noun like this is, just information technology is my house opinion that a huge part of the success of the Koosh brawl is direct related to how fun the discussion itself is.

Related: The inventor of the Koosh called the thousands of little safe filaments that projection from the centre "feelers." This is appropriate, since the Koosh does wait like some kind of sci-fi lifeform that crash-landed in the desert and plant its way into our lives.

The Koosh Ball Starred on The Rosie O'Donnell Bear witness

The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired on daytime television from 1996 until 2002, was at the center of the Koosh's impact on popular culture. Part of the lighthearted temper of the talk bear witness involved Rosie flinging Kooshes into the audience. It's hard to explain why this was such a big deal at the fourth dimension, but it was. In some ways, information technology was the most famous thing most the testify.

Rosie O'Donnell somewhat ominously property a Koosh Flingshot on her show in 1996. Photograph Courtesy: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

That became even more true in 2001 when an audience member named Lucille DeBellis sued after getting hit in the face with a Koosh. What's more, information technology was a Koosh flung by a special Koosh-flinging device called a Flingshot! DeBellis sued for $3 million and eventually settled, but it'due south not known how much she settled for. Given the safety precautions enumerated in the Koosh's original patent, information technology'due south a piffling hard to imagine that the Koosh caused much harm, just who am I to guess?

Ruth Bader Ginsberg Ruled on the Koosh Copyright

Way back in 1988, 5 years before Ruth Bader Ginsberg finally became a justice on the Supreme Court, she was a guess on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In that chapters, she ruled in a copyright case involving the Koosh ball.

Nosotros don't necessarily need to get into the legalese of this hither, just the case arrived after a series of appeals, and RBG concluded upward ruling that the court couldn't rule on the example after all. Notwithstanding, the fact that the Koosh ball ended up in the court of a judge who would proceed to sit down on the Supreme Court is a kind of hilarious turn of events.

Koosh Balls Take Lots of Other Uses

The Koosh, like many simple objects, has uses beyond its original purpose. When y'all consider the fact that the Koosh was invented in part every bit an educational device for helping kids acquire to play take hold of, this checks out.

For i affair, Kooshes accept been used in artistic projects from design to painting. The unique texture of the Koosh makes information technology possible to create all kinds of interesting finishes.

The Koosh is also a nifty tool for stress relief in all kinds of fun contexts, simply the Koosh has more serious applications in therapy as well. For instance, Koosh balls can be used in therapeutic techniques treating trichotillomania, a compulsive hair-pulling disorder.

When you add it all up, there's no denying the staying power of the Koosh ball. It'due south such a perfect little toy — fun to play catch with, and useful in all kinds of other situations. It's been one of the most pop toys effectually for 35 years, and information technology'll probably be popular for the next 35, too.