THE GREAT HULA-HOOPLA

Satellites swirl around practically every torso in southern California these days as the latest gadget to take the nation by storm sweeps into orbit.

Known officially as the Hula-Hoop and perpetrated by the same enterprising outfit that filled the skies with flying Frisbees a year or two ago, the new craze, which is already marching eastward, combines the staid virtues of an old Victorian toy with the uninhibited abandon of a native belly dance—and all in the cause of keeping fit.

At West Coast cocktail parties and church socials, on beaches and in backyards, the hoops are flying in graceful swoops around waists that may measure anywhere from 14 to 64 inches as tots and teen-agers, matrons and magnates all seek to get into the swing.

At $1.98 per, the plastic hoops, according to local storekeepers, are already outselling even Marilyn Monroe calendars at their peak. The supply is still hopelessly below the demand, although you can get one for 98¢ with the purchase of 10 gallons of gas at some service stations.

Girls, they say, make better hoopsters than boys. We're no experts, of course, but with these pictures as guides, we'd say the girls are doing fine. Hoops, anyone?

PHOTO

FRANCIE TRIES A SKIP-ROPE VARIATION

THREE PHOTOS

SUPPLE 7-YEAR-OLD FRANCIE WILSON DEMONSTRATES A TRICKY ADVANCED TECHNIQUE BY STARTING HOOP AROUND NECK AND PERMITTING IT TO SPIRAL GRADUALLY DOWN TOWARD ANKLES

PHOTO

VACATIONING PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN FROM LOS ANGELES FIND CATALINA ISLAND A PERFECT SPOT TO RELAX IN RURAL PEACE AND QUIET INTERRUPTED ONLY BY THE SWOOSH OF WHIRLING HULA-HOOPS