The accidental invention of slinky, your all-time favourite toy
Do you know what a Slinky is? Well, the term may not be familiar, but you have surely played with it at least once in your life. It is nothing but a toy in the form of a loose metal (often plastic) made to “walk” down the stairs as its coils separate and then close up. It has enamoured generations of kids throughout the world. In fact, there’s a very popular jingle that says, “A spring, a spring, a marvellous thing! Everyone knows it’s Slinky.”
This makes us wonder when exactly was this coiled and marvellous toy originate and how? Well, that is quite a story in itself.
James drops coiled wires, accidentally
As it turns out, in 1943, an American mechanical engineer named Richard James was commissioned by the US Navy to design a device that would secure equipment and shipments on ships. It had to be something like a fastener, especially when the vessels were rocked at sea.
Now, as the tale goes, while tinkering with coiled wires he accidentally dropped them on the floor and then watched them tumble end-over-end. Instead of going and fetching the wires right away, he paused for a few moments and realised that it could easily be fashioned into a potential toy.
When he went back home from his workplace, he shared what he saw and thought, with his wife Betty. She instantly liked the idea. Betty immediately glanced looked through the dictionary and found a fitting name for her husband’s innovation. It was ‘slinky’, an adjective that meant “sleek and sinuous in movement or outline.” The following year, the couple borrowed 500 dollars from a friend and co-founded James Industries that specialised in metal slinky.
Slinky becomes an instant hit
The James couple didn’t really have a smooth start with Slinky. None of the toy stores saw any potential in a bundle of wires. However, in 1945, Philadelphia-based Gimbel’s department storeowner decided to give them a chance during the Black Friday sale ahead of Christmas. Guess what happened? As many as 400 pieces of Slinky sold in less than two hours for a dollar each. After this, Richard instantly applied for a patent where he described his product as “a helical spring toy which will walk on an amusement platform such as an inclined plane or set of steps from a starting point to successive lower landing points without application of external force beyond the starting force and the action of gravity.” In fact, he even tried and tested and discovered the perfect dimensions for Slinky– 80 feet of wire coiled into a two-inch spiral.
Surprisingly, Richard didn’t stay back for long to see his toy’s success and instead joined a cult. However, Betty continued to believe in it and in 1963 launched it at the New York Toy Expo, where once again all got sold out in no time. Since then, the spring toy only rose in popularity and never for once looked back.
Slinky during the Vietnam War
Not just as a toy, Slinky was also used by American soldiers as a portable, extendable antenna for their radios. All they did was tie one end to themselves, tossing the other end over a tea branch or a fence to get better signal. This was highly practised during the Vietnam War.
Slinky in the outer space
Yes, you and I may not have travelled to the outer space yet, but slinky sure had the honour. As it happened, in 1985, US astronaut Margaret Rhea Seddon carried a slinky with her to the International Space Station. Why? Because it was her son’s favourite toy and also because she wanted to test slinky in zero gravity environment. Guess what? Slinky didn’t slink at all. Instead, it kind of drooped!
The Slinky dog
In 1990, the Slinky was modified into the shape of a dog which earned it the name of Slinky dog. It was an overnight hit among children and was even featured in the 1995 movie Toy Story. The film boosted the sales of the toy from 12000 a year to more than 50000 annually.
Interestingly, Slinky earned a prestigious place in the National Toy Hall of Fame in the USA on 30th August 2000. Since then, the day has been celebrated as the National Slinky Day in the USA.