Pogo stick:Kid Starts Pogo Roo

While the origins for the pogo stick remain something of a mystery, a patent for it first appeared in the United States in the early twentieth century. In 1919, the Gimbel Brothers Department store ordered wooden jumping sticks from Germany. The sticks, unfortunately, rotted during shipment. The department store then asked George Hansburg to produce a similar but, more resilient design: thus, the "pogo stick" was born. Polo sticks found the height of their popularity in the 1920s when Hansburg taught the Ziegfeld Follies how to use them. Jumping contests, theatrical performances, and even marriages took place on the pogo stick. Even today, pogo sticks show up in video games and on the "Sesame Street" television series as Telly Monster's favorite toy. The pogo stick has remained popular in American life because it is fun to use, simple to learn, and challenging to master.