No Breeze Required

There's probably no image that more typifies American patriotism -- now in peak season, with today being Flag Day -- than the Stars and Stripes waving in the wind. Unfortunately, getting that magical effect takes work. You have to hoist the flag up a pole, handling it ever so gingerly, and then, of course, you need a breeze.

Not anymore.

Richard Levy of Bethesda is a prolific inventor who has produced what he calls the world's first self-waving flag. You may know Levy, even if you don't realize it. His somewhat unusual mind is behind about 200 toys for adults and kids, including the mega-hit Furby, which he co-created.

Called "The Wave Stars and Stripes," Levy's flag looks deceptively simple in the box. But press a button and -- voilà! -- the banner undulates gracefully, as if Mother Nature herself had descended on your desk and powered up a gust. In the background, take your pick of patriotic anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner," "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" or "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

For Washington, it's the ultimate office toy. And it's showing up in some high-profile offices here.

Levy has sent the flag to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), among others.

"Letters have started to come back," Levy said, including personal missives from Rumsfeld and Lieberman. In exchange for the gift, Rumsfeld said he would make a donation to honor those killed in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

His outreach has worked. The product has only just hit stores and it's already got fans. When a reporter tried to reach former ambassador Richard H. Solomon, president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, his assistant initially referred the inquiry to the press office. But then she found out what the call was about.

"Oh, you're calling about our little wavy flag? Hang on," she said.

Moments later, Solomon was on the line, expressing his love for his self-waving flag.

"Visitors, whether American or foreign, walk in and we have a talk about world affairs, and as they're walking out I say, 'Oh, by the way, just press that button.' And they all break up," Solomon said.

"Some people might find flag-waving a little over the top, but most people respect the flag, and it's an unusual way, and a lighthearted way, to show it," he said.

The Wave flag idea came to Levy from California inventor Ron Milner, who co-created the Atari 2600, the hugely popular 1975 video-game console.

"I loved the idea," Levy said.

Milner sent Levy a mockup made in a plastic flowerpot. The finished product uses an ingenious system of rotating coils sewn into channels in the flag (now patented). It can be squeezed or crushed and will pop right back open and wave again.

Two years ago, Levy shared the flag idea with SRM Entertainment Ltd., a manufacturer of electronic toys outside Philadelphia. SRM President Stephen R. Mickelberg said he knew it was a winner right away and agreed to manufacture it.

The flag was unveiled at the International Toy Fair in New York in February, and SRM has sold it to Toys R Us, Kmart and CVS nationwide, no small feat for a new product. Mickelberg said it is too early to say how sales have been, but he is hopeful, based on retailers' initial reactions. It sells for $19.99, batteries included, he said.

"Obviously, we're hoping it'll be a strong product for the Fourth of July," said Erin Pensa, a spokeswoman for CVS Corp., who added that competition is stiff even to get patriotic merchandise on the shelf. She said many items vie for retailers' attention in a brief season.

Levy has not missed a marketing opportunity. He has a Web site that shows the flag in action ( http://www.thewaveflag.com/ ). He put a flag trivia quiz on the box. And he touts his attention to detail -- such as the decision to make the toy in China but to have the flag made by Valley Forge Flag Co. in Pennsylvania.

"We would never put a foreign-made flag on the thing, for goodness' sake," he said.

Levy is a self-described patriotism nut and counts this as his third patriotic toy. His first was a snap-together puzzle of the statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Then, after 9/11, he created a board game called "Spirit of America."

Levy recognizes that the technology behind the Wave flag has other applications beyond the patriotic. He is working on a version that displays NASCAR banners and another using college flags and fight songs. Another idea Levy wants to pursue is baby gifts for hospital shops that say "It's a Boy" or "It's a Girl" on a waving flag that plays a lullaby.

"We're in a fashion industry -- never get caught with your trends down," Levy said. "The retailers want something new every year."

A video of the waving flag can be found at www.washingtonpost.com/fedpage.