The other day I was at the Metro Station when I noticed that one restaurant’s outdoor patio has an interesting decorative touch of Beach Balls. Their string of lights had colorful beach balls interspaced throughout. What says “summer” more than beach balls? I went online to find more information about this item.
What is it?
Beach balls are inflatables which float and are used for water games or tossed about. The are made of PVC plastic, are light weight and it takes little effort to propel them. They have soft panels of different colors sometimes interspaced with white.
They can last a year or a day. I remember once having a new birthday ball when a friend tossed it on a spiky century plant and it was punctured. So, that ball lasted only a few seconds and I didn’t get to even play with it. I was pretty disappointed with that.
Brief History of Beach Balls
Online, back in 1938 Jonathan DeLonge, of Santa Ana, California, is credited for creating beach balls which were about the size of your hand.
During the 1960’s, they became very popular because of beach-themed movies.
Of course, everyone has seen the iconic images of seals balancing balls on their noses or tossing them about.
Then in 2017, a very large beach ball was carried on a barge on the River Thames measuring 65.6 feet with the word Baywatch printed on it. This was used to promote the “Baywatch” movie.
I’ve, also, recently seen commercial ads on television where balls are tossed among crowd scenes at concerts, weddings, beaches, festivals, etc. However, they are frequently confiscated by security. According to research, they even sometime contain illegal substances.
Ending Notes on Beach Balls
So, I really liked the beach ball themed decorative addition to the lights at the restaurant. This sparked the idea for today’s blog.
I think this is one of the greatest toys ever invented. Plus, they are inexpensive, tons of fun to play with, and always nice to toss about even if you not at the beach. They are great for pool or birthday parties. Plus, advertisers using them for an inexpensive way to get their message across.
Note: I went online where they actually have several tutorials on how to draw a beach ball.
So, anybody for a little fun in the sun?
Resource Sites: Contenttime.com, en.wikipedia, org.