1964 (Jan-Feb) "The Bounce Takes a Vacation"

Following last month's July 1963 issue (blog posted on 11/16/2013), the Nissen Trampoline Company's newsletter, "The Bounce" dropped out of existence for the  next nine months, 
finally starting back up again in May of 1964. 

This was however, not due to a lack of news during those months!

For during the first months of 1964, exciting events continued to take place in the world of gymnastics and trampoline. Events that I'll fill readers in on before we jump to that May issue. 

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     Let's begin with the 13th annual National Gymnastics Clinic held during the last week of December 1963,  in Sarasota, Florida. Gymnasts and their coaches from across the nation enjoyed sun, surf and friendly competition. Once again, the Nissen Trampoline Company could be counted on to provide truckloads of  gymnastics and trampoline apparatus...and this year, to everyone's delight there was SPACEBALL !!

Modern Gymnast Magazine, Feb. 1964

     Lido Beach was the site for the first North-South Spaceball Championship, with Louisiana trampoliners Jimmy Yongue and Jim Anderson easily winning the tournament.
Not bad for their first time playing Spaceball! 

Photo courtesy: Glenn Sundby

Excerpt below from: "A Report by Mr. Jeff Hessessy," (Modern Gymnast Magazine. Feb. 1964)

"The highlight of the clinic was the North-South gymnastic meet held in Sarasota's Municipal Auditorium with 2,000 fans in attendance. Competing on the trampoline, Wayne Miller of Lafayette, Louisiana (coached by Jeff Hennessy, Southwestern Louisiana University) opened his routine with a two and a half twisting front double somersault and ended with a double twisting double back somersault... bringing the house to its feet while the four judges flashed scores of 9.9, 9.9, 10 and 10 for an average score of 9.95...the highest score of the night!"

 
  Meanwhile, George Nissen continued to push forward new products and innovations. He developed a new line of junior-size gymnastic equipment for use in school physical education classes. These pint-sized versions of the Olympic models were less intimidating and safer for children to use, plus proved to be much easier for instructors to move in and out of their gyms.

     Another innovation was the Mini-Gym. Originally designed for and used by the U.S. Minutemen Underground Installations. The unit provided a full fitness and weight resistance workout for the military men living deep down in the missile silos. Here's a good LINK explaining more about the underground missiles of this era. 

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Share your own stories and comments below.

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"Nissen's - - a great place to work!" 

Vol. 5, # 2 (July 1963) Cedar Rapids Spaceball Tournament!

The BOUNCE - July 1963

This month marks the fiscal year-end for the Nissen Trampoline Company. 

Below, we get to read a preview of my father's remarks that he will present at the 

Stockholder's Meeting scheduled later in the month. 

He's feeling pretty positive - - Read on; the following pages cover a few of the 

activities and new products that kept George Nissen smiling!

It was a bit of a stretch for the Nissen Trampoline Company to move into the arena of modular fixtures that could be used for convention and trade show booths. But the new System Abstracta did make good use of the factory's big chroming tanks... 

Plus, it was strong enough to be sold for in-home jungle gyms!

Over the years, most of the schools in Cedar Rapids benefited and enjoyed the Nissen Trampoline Company's generous offer to be used as testing sites for new equipment and apparatus.  Not only was the feedback valuable, but the kids had fun too!

Spaceball, Spaceball, and MORE Spaceball!

            Note: The U.S. Navy Starflights of Pensacola, Florida is the Naval Air Basic Training

           Command's trampoline team. Consisting of eight men and two women, they performed all

           types of trampoline acts throughout the country, ranging from halftime shows at football

           games to television and the World's Fair. They won medals and awards in local and national

          gymnastic competitions. Team members, all volunteers are either Navy or Marine personnel on

          active duty. Some were proficient on the trampoline prior to joining the team, but in many

          cases they acquired their skills after volunteering for the team. 

                                                                                  (The Corpis Christi Caller Times, June 4, 1965)

A little more about System Abstracta and the Hoover School P.E. project. 

Plus, employee newsy-news.

Do these newsletters spark a memory?
Share your own stories and comments below.

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"Nissen's - - a great place to work!"

Vol 5 #1 (February 1963) Celebrating Christmas, Chrome & Iso-Mytes!

Activities remained at an ALL TIME HIGH for the Nissen employees as we begin 1963.
Newsletters remain bi-monthly...and have become quite brief, but don't mistake this for lack of information!
New products, promotion, a bigger factory and big sales took priority over newsletters. 

Since the factory boasted the largest electroplating (chrome) process in the Midwest, it made good business sense to find more products to chrome than just trampolines! So, everything from chinning bars to volleyball standards were dunked into the chemical tanks!

The new product at Nissen's was the "Iso-myte Exerciser" which capitalized on the emerging trend of isometric exercise. Check page 4 below for a description and photo of how it was used.

Back in the old factory, employee Christmas parties were crowded into the Sewing Room. Now, in the new factory everyone could could spread out in the large gymnasium...which had enough room for dancing, gifts and entertainment! The party photos below include a few Nissen employee skits including: The Beatnik Pickets, Doughnut Dunking Ettiquette and a rousing Sing-Along-With-Mitch session.

Employee news...clinics...and 1,000 Panelite mats!

Do these newsletters spark a memory? You are invited to share your own stories in the comment area below.

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"Nissen's - - a great place to work!"