Inventor of the Frisbee dies
"He was an entrepreneur. He was a nice guy. He was always looking for something to do," says Walt Morrison, son of Walter Frederick Morrison, the inventor of the Frisbee, who died this week aged 90.
Sometimes a simple idea can lead to a great product. It’s every entrepreneur’s dream, and one that Morrison achieved in 1948 when he made a plastic dish that ended up being known all over the world as the Frisbee.
After spending the end of World War II as a prisoner of war in a German camp, Morrison and a friend, Warren Franscioni, created a plastic plate based on a tin pan that was being thrown around Californian parks.
Morrison started selling the dish, which he named the "Pluto Platter", at local fairs, and eventually attracted interest from manufacturer Wham-O, who bought the licence for his product in 1955.
From there, the "Pluto Platter" was renamed the Frisbee – after Frisbie, the pie-maker that filled the original tin pans – and success ensued, with hundreds of millions of Frisbees being sold worldwide ever since.
Wham-O led the tributes to Morrison this week, with a brief statement on its website: “As Frisbee discs keep flying through the air, bringing smiles to faces, Fred’s spirit lives on. Smooth flights, Fred.”
Real Business – a fan of the Frisbee – finds Morrison’s story truly inspiring for any entrepreneur. All it took was a simple idea for Morrison to come up with a timeless product that is now known across the world. Who will come up with the next Frisbee? Who will be the next Morrison?
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