Answer: The Frisbee

There are toy inventors dedicated to fun and then there are toy inventors who are truly dedicated to fun. Edward Headrick was so dedicated to his iconic toy that he took playing with it to a whole new level: beyond the grave.

Although Headrick didn’t outright invent the concept of a flying disc (the modern concept of a recreational flying disc dates back to the 1930s when Fred Morrison and his wife Lucile started selling modified cake pans on Californian beaches). The concept underwent several revisions, buy outs, and transfers of ownership until 1964 when Headrick was hired as toy company Wham-O’s general manager and VP of marketing. Headrick took a hands on approach to the business and helped refine what was then known as the Pluto Platter into a more aerodynamic and easily controlled flying disc we’d all come to know as the Frisbee.

Headrick remained very involved in Frisbee design and Frisbee sports over the course of his life. Upon his death in 2002, his last wishes were honored and he was cremated, the ashes mixed with plastic polymer, and the mixture then molded into a set of memorial Frisbees given to family and close friends (some were also sold to benefit the The Ed Headrick Memorial Museum).