October 30, 2009 6:21 PM
- Text
Man Makes Rubber Band Ball History
(AP)
Look, over there. Under that blue tarp in a suburban driveway. That thing that's the size of a Smart car?
It's Joel Waul's rubber band ball.
Waul has spent the last six years carefully wrapping and linking and stretching rubber bands of various sizes into the ball shape. The Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world's largest rubber band ball in 2008.
On Thursday, Waul said goodbye to his creation. A team from Ripley's Believe it or Not came to his house with a crane and hauled the 6-foot, 7-inch tall, 9,032-pound behemoth away on a large, flatbed truck.
"It's a little bit sad to see it go, but it's going to be appreciated by thousands and hopefully millions of people in Ripley's museum to see and wonder, 'What was this guy thinking?'" Waul said.
The ball will eventually be displayed in a far-off museum yet to be determined, so folks can marvel at Waul's obsession.
Waul got the idea six years ago, when he saw a Ripley's television special that showed the then-largest rubber band ball being dropped into the desert from an airplane.
"I just thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen," said Waul, a 28-year-old who works nights restocking a Gap clothing store.
The idea of setting a world record always appealed to Waul; he recalls that as a 7-year-old in Jamaica he pored over his father's Guinness Book of World Records.
Read about more record holders:
22-Inch Man: I've Grown into Record Book
7-Foot-Long N. Dakota Dog World's Tallest?
Indonesian Mom Gives Birth to 19 lb Baby
Over 8 Feet Tall and Looking for Love
Creating a ball was easy. He got a few hair bands together. Then some larger bands. The ball grew to the size of a boulder, and his family took notice.
"When it started getting bigger, they knew I was pretty serious," he said.
The ball eventually got its own Web site. It got too big - and smelly - to keep in the house, so he rolled it outside.
There have been a few casualties: at 400 pounds, it rolled over his hand and sprained it. It busted his big toe. Rubber bands breaking ripped two pairs of cargo pants and broke three pairs of sunglasses.
Eventually, he wrote to companies that manufacture giant rubber bands for physical therapy, and they sent him free shipments.
The ball grew and grew. Neighborhood kids climbed on top of it. Dogs sniffed it.
"That's his masterpiece," said his neighbor, 25-year-old Andre Gregg. "I'm just amazed at how he did it."
Waul and the ball have several followers on their MySpace page, but no one's been mesmerized by the creation more than Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives at the Orlando-based Ripley's.
"We already have the largest string and barbed wire balls," Meyer said. "This is now my holy trinity, I guess."
Meyer won't say how much Ripley's paid for the ball, which, at 25 feet in circumference, he estimates to be twice as large as the previous record holder.
People like Waul "don't do it for money," Meyer said. "They don't really get rich. They decide they want to do something, and they get possessed. It's very much Andy Warhol, 15 minutes of fame. It is the desire to be the best at something."
Now that Waul has set the rubber bands record, he's focused on the next challenge.
"Human torch," he says, grinning.
It's Joel Waul's rubber band ball.
Waul has spent the last six years carefully wrapping and linking and stretching rubber bands of various sizes into the ball shape. The Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world's largest rubber band ball in 2008.
On Thursday, Waul said goodbye to his creation. A team from Ripley's Believe it or Not came to his house with a crane and hauled the 6-foot, 7-inch tall, 9,032-pound behemoth away on a large, flatbed truck.
"It's a little bit sad to see it go, but it's going to be appreciated by thousands and hopefully millions of people in Ripley's museum to see and wonder, 'What was this guy thinking?'" Waul said.
The ball will eventually be displayed in a far-off museum yet to be determined, so folks can marvel at Waul's obsession.
Waul got the idea six years ago, when he saw a Ripley's television special that showed the then-largest rubber band ball being dropped into the desert from an airplane.
"I just thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen," said Waul, a 28-year-old who works nights restocking a Gap clothing store.
The idea of setting a world record always appealed to Waul; he recalls that as a 7-year-old in Jamaica he pored over his father's Guinness Book of World Records.
Read about more record holders:
22-Inch Man: I've Grown into Record Book
7-Foot-Long N. Dakota Dog World's Tallest?
Indonesian Mom Gives Birth to 19 lb Baby
Over 8 Feet Tall and Looking for Love
Creating a ball was easy. He got a few hair bands together. Then some larger bands. The ball grew to the size of a boulder, and his family took notice.
"When it started getting bigger, they knew I was pretty serious," he said.
The ball eventually got its own Web site. It got too big - and smelly - to keep in the house, so he rolled it outside.
There have been a few casualties: at 400 pounds, it rolled over his hand and sprained it. It busted his big toe. Rubber bands breaking ripped two pairs of cargo pants and broke three pairs of sunglasses.
Eventually, he wrote to companies that manufacture giant rubber bands for physical therapy, and they sent him free shipments.
The ball grew and grew. Neighborhood kids climbed on top of it. Dogs sniffed it.
"That's his masterpiece," said his neighbor, 25-year-old Andre Gregg. "I'm just amazed at how he did it."
Waul and the ball have several followers on their MySpace page, but no one's been mesmerized by the creation more than Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives at the Orlando-based Ripley's.
"We already have the largest string and barbed wire balls," Meyer said. "This is now my holy trinity, I guess."
Meyer won't say how much Ripley's paid for the ball, which, at 25 feet in circumference, he estimates to be twice as large as the previous record holder.
People like Waul "don't do it for money," Meyer said. "They don't really get rich. They decide they want to do something, and they get possessed. It's very much Andy Warhol, 15 minutes of fame. It is the desire to be the best at something."
Now that Waul has set the rubber bands record, he's focused on the next challenge.
"Human torch," he says, grinning.
Latest Now in National
- Man to face Alabama trial in wife's diving death
- Whitney Houston's final performance
- Remembering Whitney Houston 1963-2012
- Screenplay for Murder
- Extra: Jimmy Siokos on Mark Twitchell
- Extra: Chris Heward's bizarre experience
- Extra: Drive with a killer
- Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Evening News Online, 02.11.12
- Video: Whitney Houston's ups and downs
- Chicago to design vehicle sticker itself
- US sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican dismissed
- American flight makes emergency landing in Ky.
- US sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican dismissed
- Making the 1st ever US women's Olympic boxing team
- Ohio unemployment hits 3-year-low
- Some glimmer of hope in Ohio employment
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Man to face Alabama trial in wife's diving death
- Jokinen, Iginla lift Flames over Canucks in SO
- Key dates from Whitney Houston's life and work
- Houston remembered at Clive Davis gala
on Facebook
- Adele sings a cappella for Anderson Cooper
- Occupy protestors kicked out of CPAC
- CPAC: Will Sarah Palin spring a surprise?
- Beyonce and Jay-Z post first photos of Blue Ivy Carter
on CBS News






