17 Years in the Making – There are Rules to Follow

1. No styrofoam in the center is allowed. Has to be a rubber band core.

2. You have to find the rubber band or be given a rubber band.

Rubber is heavy.  Like a medicine ball.  I was surprised by the weight of it.

This ball is so large that the newspaper rubber bands can’t fit around it.  A chef donates his escarole rubber bands.  Mr. Laszlo Zongor has taught a couple of young people how to start a rubber band ball the correct way.

I believe there are other rules but I can’t remember and he said to not misquote him!!

In Pittsburgh, rubber bands are called gum bands by many!

And yes, I looked it up and there is a guy who claims he has the real deal biggest authentic rubber band ball that he has stretched each band onto, individually.   My friend E at work has a ball she started 11 years ago! She said she had started to buy the lettuce, pre washed in a bag and wasn’t getting those nice big fat Romaine bands lately.

I wish I had asked what motivated them to start making the rubber band ball……………….and then the commitment to “growing it”.

 

And a P.S. from Melinda (his wife) after viewing the post

“I think the last rule you forgot was that the rubber bands cannot be lengthened by tying one to another – each band has to fit entirely around the ball on its own.  That’s the challenge at this point:  finding bands that are long enough, since most will no longer work.  ….Makes it somewhat self-limiting in size!”

Not sure who checks if one is following the rules but wanted to include it, since I forgot!

 

13 thoughts on “17 Years in the Making – There are Rules to Follow

  1. I love that one!! I remember wondering how to make a rubber band ball as a child! His face is just exactly what I would imagine for someone who has made one.

  2. Once, when my son was little, he had been at my office and playing with a colleague’s rubber band ball. A few days later it disappeared, and she accused my son of hiding it or taking it, which was very distressing. I couldn’t figure out why she was so upset. A few years ago, when cleaning out a long-neglected “junk” drawer, I started rolling all of the bands into a ball. It reminded me of that incident so long ago & I laughed. But a few weeks later, my now college-aged son, sitting at my desk while on a lengthy phone call hold, started playing with it & unwound it. I was upset! It was a lot of work and it wasn’t even that big! And then we both laughed at the absurdity of it! I have no desire to make one so big that you can’t stretch some bands around it, but I do like having them in one place — or more, as I know have a couple of these, starting a new one every time it gets too big to fit into the desk drawer.

  3. Absolutely Rufus, I also thought it was Albert himself at first,I was waiting for the scientific process and the ball creates an energy! :-0) Lovely face and a great ball.

  4. That is one big rubber ball. I bet it’s heavy! How did you find this chap, and how did the topic of his rubber band ball come about? I’m intrigued… (And no, I will not be starting a rubber band ball of my own.) 😉

    • He was the owner at the national coverlet museum and I spied his ball in a plastic bag and before you know it I heard the whole story

      Sent from my iPhone

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