(Connecticut State Library via Wikimedia Commons public domain) Morrison promoting Pluto Platters in the 1950s. He completed his design 75 years ago this month, on September 10, 1946. Employing notions of aerodynamics he picked up as a pilot, Morrison drew a sketch for a new version of the Flying Cake Pan called the Whirlo-Way. After the war ended and he returned home, Morrison’s thoughts turned back to his homemade flyer. His P-47 Thunderbolt was shot down over Italy and he was held as a POW for over a month, but he survived. Morrison served as an Army Air Force fighter pilot. The business venture got derailed, as many things at the time did, by World War II. Dubbed the Flying Cake Pan - yes, Flying Cake Pan - they began to sell them for a quarter a piece at L.A. It stood to reason that there might be a commercial market for a flying disc toy. Morrison knew an opportunity when he heard it at that time, cake pans themselves only cost five cents. People watched as they played, and someone even offered the duo a quarter for their cake pan so they could play. One such outing was to a beach in Santa Monica, California. Fred and Lucille would even take the pans on outings to public places so they could play. They started using cake pans to play they were easier to find, and cheap to buy. The pair had a good time with it, but discovered that the popcorn tin lids were easy to dent, and subsequently, no longer great for flying. Walter Frederick Morrison and his girlfriend (later wife) Lucille started a game of catch with a metal lid from a popcorn container. It starts with Thanksgiving dinner in 1937. Here’s how it went from popcorn lid to a ubiquitous beach and college campus feature. But the notion of a lightweight, widely-marketed circular throwing toy didn’t land until the 20th century, and even then it would take some unexpected turns. It’s obvious that the fundamental idea of the flying disc toy had existed in the culture for centuries after all, the discus throw was an event in the ancient Greek pentathlon. Such is the case with the perennially popular Frisbee. It’s often said that the best ideas are the simplest.
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