Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
"WHIRL 'N HOP"
"WHIRL 'N HOP." Charles Ninneman was one of the three developers of a toy, the "Whirl 'N Skip," in 1968. He gained the attention of a New Orleans inventor who had developed a similar product. Impressed by what he saw, Ninneman and William Clemens, Jr. established Toys 'N Crafts. This new Dubuque company purchased the rights to the toy in October 1969 and formed the company for handling Whirl 'N Hop in the Export Packagers plant along Highway 20 west of Dubuque.
Whirl 'N Hop was a two-edged jump rope that replaced the traditional rope with plastic except for nylon cord ends with a plastic crank in the middle allowing the jumper to maintain the pace without the arm movements.
The product was "all Dubuque" production. The plastic moulding was produced by Janlin Plastics, a direction sheet was printed by UNION-HOERMANN PRESS, and shipping carton were manufactured by ST. REGIS PAPER COMPANY.
---
Source:
"New Toy a Product of Dubuque," Telegraph-Herald, June 7, 1970, p. 29