We Are
Spud 'N Rich

Named after Spud Melin and Rich Knerr, creators of Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Slip 'N Slide, & dozens more. Chuck Knerr founded Spud 'N Rich to bring Funomenal Fun to a new generation of children.

Spud Melin and Rich Knerr from LIFE magazine 1965

Featured in LIFE magazine, 1965.

Super Fun Friends

Best friends Spud and Rich, bonded through a shared love of the outdoors and passion for having fun.

Spud Melin horsing around with Silly String

Rich Knerr takes aim with an Air Blaster

35 Years of Fun

Inventors brought Spud and Rich ideas because they were honest and their door was always open.

They started here...

In 1948 Spud and Rich started making and selling slingshots by mail order in Chuck's grandparents garage in South Pasadena, CA. Pictured is Rich in 1988.

Pluto Platter (Frisbee)

Their first toy was called Pluto Platter. Rich later renamed it after a comic strip character, "Mr. Frisbee." Frisbee took off when it was marketed as a sport in the mid-1960s.

Hula Hoop

In April 1958, "people lined up around the block when stores expected a shipment of Hoops. By September you couldn't give 'em away." That's how fast the market saturated.

Slip 'N Slide

An upholsterer made the first version for his kids and brought it to Spud and Rich. It was a huge success and family summer favorite for cool splashing fun.

Monster Bubbles

Those little tiny wands that came in the bottle of bubble fluid couldn't measure up to Monster Bubbles. When they added a different wand, Zillion Bubbles was added.

Water Wiggle

This whacky toy soaked anyone who came near. Its unpredictable gyrations made for cool, splashing fun as it danced across the yard.

Air Blaster

This toy gun fired a ball of air across the room and would blow out a candle or mess your Mom's hairdo. Included a lifetime supply of free ammunition.

Super Ball

A tire company chemist brought Spud 'N Rich a new rubber formula, with a super 94% resiliency. Kids loved its super power, it would bounce over your house.

Super Stuff

More fun through chemistry. An oil company chemist brought Spud and Rich a powder, that when mixed with water, turned into a gooey, squishy blob of fun.

Silly String

Two men trying to invent a spray-on cast, instead invented a soft, plastic string. Spud 'N Rich knew with bright colors added, this was fun in a can. (But keep it off the naugahyde!)

Superelasticbubbleplastic

Rich discovered this plas-sticky substance in France. Kids loved the giant colorful bubbles; perfect for the psychedelic period ushering in the 1970s.

Fun Fountain

Fill the clown head with water, adjust the stream and turn on the hose. Kids loved the way its hat would magically rise on a fountain of water and float there.

Trac Ball

This new twist on Jai Ali used a curved racquet with a corrugated track to put enormous spin on the ball. Depending on how you released it it would curve wildly in any direction.

Magic Window

Filled with colored microscopic beads of "microdium crystals" with different specific gravities, kids loved the unpredictable works of art that resulted from moving it.

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Fun School

Spud and Rich were professors of fun. Chuck says, "They gave me the gift of their knowledge and experience." When grandkids arrived, he founded Spud 'N Rich to carry on the fun.