Who Invented the Frisbee & How Did It Get Its Name?

Tossing a Frisbee has been a favorite beach pastime for more than 50 years.

The Frisbee was developed in the 1930s and first manufactured under a different name in the 1940s by Fred Morrison . The flying disc did not acquire the name Frisbee until the invention was purchased by a toy company in the 1950s.

Fred Morrison

Fred Morrison invented the Frisbee after passersby showed interest in the flying discs he and his girlfriend tossed around at the beach in California. After serving in World War II, he manufactured the first flying discs and sold them at local fairs, parks and beaches.

The Original Flying Disc

Before the Frisbee, Fred Morrison first tossed around a tin popcorn lid in 1937, and then switched to sturdier cake pans. In 1948 he started manufacturing molded, plastic discs he called Flyin' Saucers. By the mid-1950s he changed the name to Pluto Platters.

"Frisbies"

College students in New England had the same idea as Morrison. While he developed his flying discs, these coeds were tossing around pie tins they called Frisbies, from the Frisbie Pie Company in Connecticut.

Wham-O

Morrison sold the rights to his invention to the Wham-O Company in 1957. The company changed the name of the Pluto Platter to Frisbee a few months later. Frisbee is now a trademark-protected name. Morrison continued to collect royalties on his invention until his death in 2010.

References

• Washington Post: Fred Morrison, inventor of the Frisbee, dies at 90
• NBC Sports: Frisbee Inventor Dies at Age 90
• The New York Times: How the Frisbee got its name