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Milestones: Wiffle Ball Inc.
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Business New Haven
11/24/2003
By: Karen Singer
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Wiffle Ball Inc.
275 Bridgeport Ave.
Shelton, CT 06484
Tel: 203-924-4643
Fax: 203-924-9433
Web: www.wiffle.com
Ownership: David A. Mullany, David J. Mullany, Stephen A. Mullany
Milestone: 50 years
Timeline: A half-century ago, an out-of-work father solved a problem for his son, and in doing so, created a toy that remains popular today.
David Nelson Mullany's invention, the Wiffle Ball, has become a fixture on backyard lots and playing fields throughout the U.S. and abroad, an indispensable part of hotly contested league tournaments and the inspiration for an Internet game.
A semi-professional baseball pitcher for an industrial league team, Mullany was inspired by watching his son, David A. Mullany, and friends spend hours playing a ball game with a broomstick handle and a plastic practice golf ball, and hearing the boy complain his throwing arm felt like "jelly."
Determined to create a ball that would curve easily when pitched - and not break windows - Mullany experimented by cutting holes in a sphere-shaped plastic Coty perfume packaging container. The successful design: eight oblong holes on one half, perpendicular to the center seam.
Based on his son's suggestion, Mullany called his invention a "whiffle ball," referring to "whiff," meaning to swing and miss in the children's game. Mullany's son also recommended deleting the 'H' because he thought it would cost less to buy a sign with fewer letters.
Finding a distributor proved difficult, and the sales rep who finally agreed figured the novelty wouldn't last more than a couple of years. Nevertheless, the first Wiffle Balls went on sale in 1953.
In the mid-1970s, Mullany's son took over the day-to-day operations of the company. Several years ago, he passed the torch to the next generation, though he's still president of Wiffle Ball Inc. Mullany died in 1990.
"It certainly wasn't the hula hoop," says vice president David J. Mullany, grandson of the inventor, who currently runs the company along with his brother, Stephen. "But growth has been slow and steady."
Achievements and Accomplishments: "My grandfather always wanted to create something on his own," Mullany says, adding the Wiffle Ball was the inventor's second entrepreneurial venture.
After working for a pharmaceutical company while playing baseball, Mullany first struck out on his own with a venture involving liquid car polish. "It was very successful for a few years," Mullany says, before fizzling toward the end of 1952.
The following year, though, he hit a home run with the Wiffle Ball.
Mullany won't disclose precisely how many balls the are produced annually these days, saying only it's in the millions.
Over the years, the company has expanded the line from the original "junior size" ball to a standard baseball and a softball size. Other merchandise includes bats, hats and neckties emblazoned with the Wiffle Ball logo.
The U.S. remains the primary market, but the company also sends its products to South America, Japan, Canada and England, among other countries.
"We have photos of people playing Wiffle Ball in Red Square in Moscow, and on the Great Wall of China," Mullany reports, adding that such mementos make his dad smile.
For the 50th anniversary, the company is considering issuing a commemorative edition of the first bat-and-ball set.
Looking Back on a Changing Industry: Wiffle Ball has spawned legions of admirers - and imitators. Official rules and regulations are posted on the company Web site, but there are countless variations.
Mullany cares less about those, or about various knockoffs (the patent is long expired) than use of the Wiffle Ball logo.
"We spend a lot of time policing the trademark to make sure it is used properly," he says, adding a Google search will turn up "quite a few hits."
Offenders typically are Wiffle Ball enthusiasts with Web sites who may not be aware of the sanctioned way to portray the logo. "Most often, we thank them for their support, and point out the proper way to do it," Mullany says.
In 2000 the company teamed up with Kraft Foods, which developed an online game of Wiffle Ball that has attracted a growing audience at www.candystand.com. The most recent addition to the site is a Wiffle Ball Hall of Fame, featuring professional ball players as well as amateurs.
As for its next stage of evolution, Mullany says, "Who knows?"
In the meantime, "It's kinda neat to put out a product that's fun for people to play and who choose to come back to year after to year."
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