Who Invented the Foam Finger? Iowa’s Unexpected Connection
The Foam Finger Has Midwest Roots
As you watch your favorite high school, college, or pro football games be on the lookout for a legendary staple of fan bases everywhere.
The foam finger.
If you don't own one (or more) yourself, you certainly know someone who does. But did you know that the foam finger was born in this part of the world more than half a century ago?
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The Iowa Connection to the Foam Finger
According to Mental Floss, the first foam finger was created by an Iowa high school student named Steve Chmelar.
In 1971, Chmelar built a giant hand from hardware cloth and paper mache with an extended index finger to cheer on Ottumwa High’s basketball team in a state championship game.
Ottumwa ultimately lost the game, but Chmlear was a big winner when the Ottumwa Courier printed a picture of him and his finger.
The Texas Connection to the Foam Finger
The next chapter of the foam finger folklore was written in Texas in 1977. That's when a Houston-area industrial arts teacher named Geral Fauss crafted 400 oversized pointing hands out of masonite (engineered wood) and sold all of them to raise money for the industrial arts club.
Fauss later sold his new creation at the 1978 Cotton Bowl and was out of inventory in just 20 minutes.
He later founded Spirit Hand Novelties, which is still in business today and at its peak, was cranking out up to 5000 hands a day at its plant in Montgomery, Texas.
If Amazon is any indication, the foam finger is as popular as ever, with more than 1,000 options coming up on a recent search.
Of course, if you're more of the do-it-yourself type, you can fashion one of your own:
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