Bounce Back – Or Not

Ever suddenly remember a toy from your childhood? For me, it was paddle ball — a soft rubber ball tethered to a plywood paddle with an elastic string. The goal was simple: hit the ball with the paddle as many times in a row as you could. That is, until the string snapped and the ball went flying — into the bushes, under the couch, or straight into the ocean if you got too close to the waves.

Most of the time, you could tie the broken string back together. But it never felt quite the same. The tension was off. The connection weaker. And deep down, you waited for it to break again.

Some things don’t last. But paddle ball? That humble toy is still sold today — nearly a century after it first appeared. And its story isn’t just  of nostalgic fun. It’s a small slice of the best of America.

An American Story
James Emory Gibson was a hosiery salesman in High Point, North Carolina, until the Great Depression made it hard to earn a living. One day, his young daughter brought home a cheap toy paddle from the ice cream shop — paddle ball in its earliest form. At first, Gibson was annoyed by the frivolous purchase. But then his instincts kicked in: he could make it better and maybe sell it.

It wasn’t easy at first, but Gibson persisted. Eventually, he landed a major order, and soon his company — the Fli-Back Company — was mass-producing paddle ball games with a logo of a cowboy on a bucking bronco that kids (like me) adored. By the late 1930s, Woolworth’s and Macy’s were carrying them. Millions were sold every year.

But Gibson’s impact didn’t stop at toys. When WWII led to staffing shortages, he hired Black women at equal pay — a rare and radical move in the Jim Crow South. And when a nearby restaurant overcharged his workers for lunch, he started providing affordable meals at the factory instead. Gibson’s toy might have been simple, but his values were anything but.

Paddle Ball — Public Health Edition
These days, the paddle ball game is playing out in public health — and it’s not exactly fun.

Programs and agencies are tethered to Washington by the thin elastic string of federal funding. When things are steady, the string holds. Budgets get nudged, maybe tapped by the paddle — but they bounce back.

But lately? The string is snapping. Entire agencies have been gutted or shut down overnight. Staff laid off. Services vanish. Sometimes the public pushes back — lawsuits, protests, headlines.

Occasionally, funding returns. The ball gets tied back on. That happened recently with the Women’s Health Initiative and the FDA staff who process Freedom of Information Act requests. But just like the toy, it’s never quite the same. The knot is weaker. The trust is frayed. And everyone — staff, patients, the public — waits for the next break.

And not every agency bounces back.

What Snaps and What Holds
I’ll always remember the challenge of keeping the rhythm to bounce the ball on the paddle, and the scramble when the string snapped and the ball flew untethered.
But public health isn’t child’s play.
When systems come untethered,
it’s not just a toy we lose to the tide —
it’s trust,
it’s care,
it’s lives.
Happy reading,

Suzanne Daniels

Enjoy the weekend!

Best,
Suzanne
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.
AEPC President
P.O. Box 1416
Birmingham, MI 48012
Office: (248) 792-2187
Email: [email protected]