Buzz
During the fall of 1990, elementary schools across the U.S. were still recovering from the previous year's Bart Simpson T-shirt ban when they faced yet another disruptive trend. As teachers wrote on chalkboards and urged students to focus, the constant sound of metal hitting skin filled the air. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
The clattering noise reverberated through classrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds, and school buses. Millions of children were captivated by Slap Wraps, a 9-inch stainless steel band wrapped in colorful fabric that snapped around the wrist with a swift flick. While kids adored them as both toys and accessories, educators were far less enthusiastic. Some schools imposed bans, not just because of the distraction—cheap imitations with sharp edges and poor-quality fabric caused injuries, leaving some students needing medical attention.
Stuart Anders, a native of Fort Prairie, Wisconsin, invented Slap Wraps. After earning his education degree in 1983, Anders struggled to find a full-time teaching position and instead worked as a substitute teacher and sports coach.
One day, while sitting at his mother’s sewing table, Anders picked up a self-rolling tape measure that curled with a flick of his wrist. As he played with it, he realized it could be transformed into a stylish bracelet if the steel were covered in fabric.
Anders contacted the company that produced the tape measure, only to find they had discontinued it. Unsure of his next steps, he believed the snap bracelet idea had potential but lacked the funds or resources to bring it to life. Still, he kept the prototype on his steering wheel as a reminder.
Later, Anders joined the National Guard, where he trained as a helicopter pilot. After his service, he relocated to Florida and took a job at a local apparel company. Throughout this time, the bracelet prototype remained in his truck.
One day, Anders met Philip Bart, a toy designer agent, by chance. Excited by the opportunity, Anders rushed to his truck to retrieve the bracelet. He snapped it onto Bart’s wrist with a satisfying thwack.
Bart was immediately convinced. Now, the challenge was convincing others to see its potential.
Bart pitched the slap bracelet concept to major toy companies, but they dismissed it. Their reasoning was simple: they didn’t want to invest in a low-cost novelty item. However, Eugene Murtha, who had recently launched Main Street Toy Company in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1988, saw promise in the idea. A former Coleco executive during the Cabbage Patch Kid frenzy, Murtha recognized the potential of Anders’s invention and agreed to distribute Slap Wraps, offering Bart and Anders royalties.
Bart and Anders hurried to create prototypes for the 1990 American International Toy Fair in New York City. The bracelets became the highlight of the event, and Murtha secured a 250,000-unit order from KB Toys. However, production challenges arose. Murtha struggled with manufacturing, prompting Bart to establish Main Street Industries to produce the bracelets, which were then sold back to Main Street Toy Company. Adjustments to the steel’s thickness—from 0.004 inches to 0.006 inches—were necessary to prevent it from piercing the double-knit fabric, delaying production. While Murtha expected shipments by April, Slap Wraps weren’t ready until summer 1990.
Meanwhile, Bart was frustrated that Murtha allowed prototypes to circulate at Toy Fair, leading to a flood of knock-offs hitting stores before Slap Wraps even launched. These imitations often used carbon steel, prone to rusting, and inferior fabric, which exposed sharp edges and posed safety risks.
The dangers became apparent when Slap Wraps and their Taiwan-made counterparts gained popularity in the fall. Fueled by word-of-mouth, children eagerly bought the bracelets, turning them into a schoolyard sensation. The constant slapping of the neon accessories earned them a description from The New York Times as “a Venetian blind with an attitude.”
The bracelets’ disruptive nature—both the noise and the distraction they caused—along with reports of injuries, such as 4-year-old Nicole Tomaso of Wallingford, Connecticut, cutting her finger, prompted schools to act. Colonial School and Siwanoy School in New York banned them after a child was injured at West Orchard Elementary School in Chappaqua. Lehigh Township Elementary School in Pennsylvania cited distraction as the reason for their ban, while Steckel Elementary School in Whitehall prohibited bracelet-slapping. Some schools required teachers to check for frayed edges. Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection recalled foreign versions, and the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission urged parents to inspect bracelets for safety.
Murtha was troubled by the controversy, consistently telling the media that injuries were caused by cheap imitations, not the authentic Slap Wraps. Despite selling 1 million bracelets at $2.50 each in just three months and receiving orders for 5 million more, an estimated 10 to 15 million counterfeit versions had flooded the market, some priced as low as $0.70 each.
As the trend faded by late 1990, Bart and Murtha began blaming each other. Bart accused Murtha of allowing prototypes to be taken at Toy Fair, leading to a surge of knock-offs. He believed this carelessness cost them $25 million in potential sales, leaving them with only $4 million. Bart also claimed Murtha switched manufacturers, leaving him with unsold stock. Murtha, in turn, argued that Bart’s production delays and price hikes caused missed spring deliveries. Plans for slap ponytail bracelets and anklets were abandoned.
The conflict escalated. Bart and Anders had not received royalty payments from Slap Wraps sales, with both sides disputing the terms of their 1990 contracts. Bart and Anders sought to end the licensing agreement, prompting Murtha to sue. The case went to arbitration in 1991, where both parties were found at fault, but Murtha was ordered to pay $751,309. However, Main Street Toy Company was nearly bankrupt, and no payment was made. Bart claimed $1 million in manufacturing losses and was left with 2.5 million unsold Slap Wraps as children moved on to new trends.
Murtha later worked at Mattel and Gund and eventually reconciled with Anders, who found success with a tool socket holder sold to Sears.
Over the years, various manufacturers have revisited the slap bracelet concept, but safety concerns persist. In 2017, Troll doll-themed bracelets with storybooks were recalled due to sharp edges posing laceration risks. Similarly, Yumark Industries’ bracelets, sold at Target in 2018, were also recalled. Despite these issues, Anders’s invention remains a lasting influence on pop culture.
