In 1958, any part of the world that didn't have people playing with these American plastic hoops was not yet "in touch with the world". The Hula Hoop, the toy that really took the world by storm, was made by two young toy makers in San Gabriel, California. Richard Nell and Arthur Merrill, co-owners of the Whim-O Manufacturing Company, were at a toy fair in New York in March 1958 when an acquaintance told them about a large wooden hoop that was being popularized all over Australia, with children spinning it around on their hips. When they got back to the company, Nell and Merrill started making wooden rings. But after making about 20 of them, they stopped. They didn't like the wooden ones and wanted to try them in plastic. By May, they had made something that met their requirements; they made 3-foot hoops out of flowery polyethylene tubing and sold them for ninety-three cents each for a 16 percent gross profit. This new toy from Whim-O was named the Hula Hoop.