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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