Arthur and the amazing rubber band ball

"When my daughter was born the doctor said 'you have a bouncing baby girl,' and something just snapped," said Ost.

On that day 41 years ago Ost picked up a few rubber bands and rolled them until they knotted into a small ball. As the years passed, he would pick up rubber bands wherever he could find them. Some would come from newspapers and others he purchased from the store.

Ost said at one time he became righteous - as rubber band ball makers sometimes do - and decided he would only use recycled rubber bands. Ost said going to the store seemed too easy and environmentally unsound, but it didn't last long and soon Ost was back to his old ways.

The ball measures up to about a dozen found on the Internet. There are even special online clubs devoted to rubber band balls of even smaller stature. Some connoisseurs get signatures on the rubber bands or write entire song lyrics on them. It's all news to Ost since he doesn't own a computer. He's happy enough just finding colored rubber bands.

As an employee of a national advertising firm, Ost moved his family and the ball moved from New Jersey to New York and finally to the Bay Area where it's been for the last 30 years. The ball was even displayed at his San Mateo apartment complex office where it spurred rubber band donations from many of his neighbors.

It grew so big he had to start tying rubber bands together to fit around the expanding ball. The only problem, said Ost, is the knots are unattractive because they leave pieces of rubber band hanging out. Ost thought all was lost until he found industrial-sized, colored rubber bands at the nearby Staples office supply store. A neighbor drives him to the store about once a week and he buys about 15 at time.

Now divorced with his adult daughter Janice living in Santa Cruz, Ost spends his evenings watching TV and perfecting his ball which sits at a table next to his chair. Even though he recently lost most of his vision in his left eye, Ost manages to apply rubber bands with expert precision using a technique he's developed over the years. The procedure involves wrapping part of the rubber band around his pinkie.

Occasionally, Ost makes small rubber band balls - about two inches - to give away as gifts. However, Ost said he's saving the mother of all rubber band balls for someone special.

"My daughter knows she'll get this ball one day," said Ost.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.