Wiffle® Ball - Fun Facts. How well do you know Wiffle®?

How well do you know Wiffle® Ball?  The game, the product, the history...Test your knowledge below.

Question: How much were the first Wiffle® balls sold for?

Answer: $0.49

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Did you know?

The Wiffle® ball was originally created from discarded perfume packaging.

The first prototypes of the Wiffle® ball were made with a razor blade and some tape on a kitchen table.

The first major retailer to sell Wiffle® balls was Woolworth's.

The first star to appear on the Wiffle® ball box in the early 1950's was Ted Williams.

The Wiffle® ball has been enshrined into the permanent collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

The original Wiffle® ball which went on sale in 1953 is identical in size to today's junior size Wiffle® ball

Professional Wiffle® ball pitchers have been known to make a Wiffle® ball break as much as four feet

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Question:  What household item was used to make the first Wiffle® ball bats?

Answer: broomstick handles

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Did You Know?

The instructions of how to pitch on the Wiffle ball box are wrong...well sort of. The box always featured diagrams of how to throw a curve and slider, but according to Nathan Cobb of the Globe, the diagrams are wrong. Mullany the Elder(founder), a left-hander, showed a graphic artist how he gripped the ball. The artist then drew a right hand, while keeping the ball in the same position. So the diagrams were backwards, and they were never changed.

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Interesting uses of Wiffle® balls and bats...Did you know?

A down pillow company uses the bats to flatten out pillows

Some peach farmers use the bats to poke at branches and knock out loose fruit

Golf courses and driving ranges have used the Wiffle® softballs to mark the tees, hazards and other areas.

Horse trainers have use the bats to keep horses in line with the wiff sound that comes from the bat

Getting married? Newly weds have personalized Wiffle® balls with their name and wedding date and gave them out as wedding favors!

Wiffle® balls have been used as Christmas tree ornaments and holiday decorations.  See our January Newsletter.

Racecar teams have used Wiffle® balls to reduce sloshing in the gas tank

Hog farmers have filled the bats with bb gun pellets and rattle them to lead the pigs about.

Question: Which former New York Yankee appeared in the first and only Wiffle® TV commericials?

Answer: Whitey Ford, in 1961

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For more info about Wiffle ball see:  Inside the Wiffle Ball Company 

EXCURSIONS Journey To Health is your source for everything Wiffle® Ball!

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WIFFLE is a federally registered trademark of The Wiffle Ball, Inc. Shelton, CT 06484 and used with permission.