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Wiffle balls are attractive to people of all ages due to their simplicity, as they can be used indoors or outdoors, and the bat can be a broomstick or any other object.
Therefore, they are loved worldwide, especially in America, as everyone wants to learn how to throw a Wiffle ball. It is easy to think that these Wiffle balls are made in China or some other country with cheaper manufacturing rates, but that is not true.
Since their creation, these Wiffle balls have been made in the same place, Shelton, Connecticut. Read more about the history of the popular Wiffle balls and where they are made!
Wiffle Balls: A Brief History
America loves baseball, and unsurprisingly, children want to play baseball like their favorite players. But to play baseball, you need to have a large field, a large number of players, and learn to use the heavy bat and ball. These are usually not child-friendly as they can easily break windows or hurt their arms while throwing the ball.
David Mullany, a semi-pro retired pitcher, observed his son and friend eagerly attempting to master Wiffle ball pitches, using a broomstick as a bat and a plastic ball with holes.
He understood that it would be difficult for them to throw curve balls because the ball is so lightweight. So, to help his son play better, he tried experimenting with ball-shaped plastic containers he obtained from a nearby cosmetics manufacturer. He made different types of holes in the ball and observed if it was easier to play with because the ball would now hold more air.
With trial and error, he found that making eight small, oblong holes at the top while having a solid bottom would make the balls most efficient. He patented this idea and named it the Wiffle ball, and from then on, the popularity of these balls and bats has only soared.
In What State Are These Wiffle Balls Made?
Since we might have seen Wiffle balls everywhere in schools, backyards, toy shops, etc., it is easy to think that there might be a huge factory somewhere in a different country where these are manufactured. But that is far from the truth because right from the first ever Wiffle ball ever made till now, most of them have been made in Shelton, Connecticut.
The company Wiffle Ball Inc. is a two-story factory located in Connecticut, and it is not a huge factory as the entire area would be around 20,000 square feet. Shelton was a busy manufacturing hub. However, after the 1970s, it experienced a steady decline in its factory count because many were getting shut down or moving somewhere else where the manufacturing and production costs were lower. However, Wiffle Balls Inc. has remained stable, and in fact, the company plans to continue producing the world-famous Wiffle Balls in that location.
The Mullany family still runs the company, and they haven’t expanded the factory or offered a long list of new products. They suggest that they have been successful in their business because they focus on the quality of the product and not on reducing operating costs by moving elsewhere. In fact, the design of the Wiffle ball hasn’t changed since 1954, when it was first designed and sold, and interestingly, the location where they are produced also remains the same.
What Happens in The Factory?
The company doesn’t have a huge workforce, nor does it require it because most of the process of making the Wiffle ball is automated. They don’t get many defective products in the process and, therefore, don’t produce much waste. This helps them to be more cost-effective and manage with a small team. The company itself employs around 15 people who all live near the factory.
There is a machine with a glass side through which you can see Wiffle balls being made. The ball is made from two different halves made with the help of an injection molding machine. They are fused by another machine, which produces around four balls every 8 seconds. The entire process is so smooth and efficient. After they are made in bulk, they can be shipped to different toy shops within and outside the country.
They make the Wiffle balls in several sizes, namely the original size, softball size, and golfball size. Although they have experimented with different colors like blue and red in the past, they have decided to stick to white, the classic original color of Wiffle balls.
Wiffle balls are one of the products that is proudly American, but this fact fails to be recognized. Shelton, Connecticut, will be the home of Wiffle balls, at least for the coming years.
Summary
Wiffle balls, which are small white balls with holes at the top, are cheap, lightweight, and so are easy to play with anywhere. Since they were created by David Mullany in 1954, they have become widely popular worldwide.
However, due to the sheer number of Wiffle balls produced, it is natural to think there might be a huge factory in a different country producing these balls. But the truth is that they have been proudly produced in Shelton, Connecticut, in a 2 story factory building.
This is where they will produced in the future as well!
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