Which toy company was the first to patent the "Hula Hoop"?

I was in the first grade in 1958 when I got my first hula hoop. It was bright yellow and I practiced for hours in the backyard trying to twirl it around my waist...and picking it up off of the ground when it slipped down. A few weeks later almost every kid in our school had their own hula hoop and the nuns held hula hoop contests for the students. I won first place in the first through third grade group. 1958 was a good year.

I have a garden tool called a hula hoe.

Blooply, yes, I wonder how many of their other successful products were aquired in similar fashion?