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TOTAL PRODUCT RECALL
CPSC #78020Kids & toys

NO MEMORY IMAGE ON FILE

Wham-O · Recalled

Water Wiggle Toy Recalled by Wham-O

Drowning

Drowning

Units
Not stated
Reports
—
Injuries
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Deaths
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Price
—
Remedy
See notice

Reports, injuries, deaths and price are read out of the notice’s wording by rules, so they can miss unusual phrasing. The official notice is the record.

Affected

Water Wiggle Toy Recalled by Wham-O NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 13, 1978 Release # 78-020 Recall Of Wham-O Water Wiggle Toy WASHINGTON, D.C. (Apr. 13) -- Wham-O Manufacturing Co., San Gabriel, Calif., in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, today announced it is voluntarily stopping sale and recalling its "Water Wiggle" toy. Approximately 2 1/2 million of these toys have been sold throughout the United States over the past 17 years. The toy consists of a seven-foot plastic hose attached to an aluminum water-jet nozzle which is covered by a bell-shaped plastic head. The toy is designed to be attached to a garden hose for water fun. It retails for approximately $3.50. Wham-O stated that the recall is occasioned by the death of a four-year-old child in March 1978. The youngster was playing with some other children in his backyard with a dismantled "Water Wiggle," one from which the bell-shaped head had been removed or had come off. The exposed aluminum nozzle became lodged in his mouth and he drowned. Wham-O stated that it had no knowledge of how or why the toy was dismantled or how the nozzle became lodged in the child's mouth. A "Water Wiggle" was involved in a similar death of a three-year-old boy in 1975. Parents are advised not to allow their children to play with this product. Wham-O requests its retailers to remove all "Water Wiggles" from their shelves. Consumers who own a "Water Wiggle" toy should return the product to the retail store where purchased for a full refund or credit toward another product. Consumers requiring information concerning this recall should contact the Customer Service Department, Wham-O Manufacturing Company, 835 East El Monte Street, San Gabriel, California 91778 (toll free numbers 800/423-4592 and 800/423-4593) or call the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission toll-free hotline 800/638-2772.

The file

Sold at
Not stated
Product type
Toy Miscellaneous
Made in
Not stated
Recalled by
Wham-O

Incident log

None stated.

What the notice says to do

See the official notice.

Open official CPSC notice ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Recall notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. This site is independent: always confirm on the official notice before acting.

Notice first dated APR 13 1978; last revised DEC 17 2014.

All 1978 recalls · Back to the timeline