🌀 Who's Old Enough To Remember Playing With A Slinky?
Today, August 30th, is National Slinky Day — which seems like a perfectly good excuse to remember one of the simplest toys ever invented... and somehow one of the most entertaining.
No batteries. No charger. No Wi-Fi. No app. Just a long coil of metal and the firm belief that THIS time you were going to get it all the way down the stairs without it tipping over halfway.
If you grew up with a Slinky, like me, you probably remember:
🌀 Setting it at the top of the stairs and watching it “walk” down one step at a time
🌀 Stretching it from hand to hand
🌀 Trying to make it do tricks you were absolutely certain it could do
🌀 That wonderfully distinctive slink-slink-slink sound
🌀 And inevitably, getting it hopelessly tangled and then spending forever trying to straighten it out
The Slinky has been around since the 1940s, proving that sometimes you really don’t need flashing lights, screens, sound effects, or 47 pieces to keep a kid entertained.
"I've kind of fashioned my life after a Slinky. Bend me in a million shapes, and eventually I'll spring back to what I originally was."
Sylvester Stallone
🌀How Did The Slinky Become "A Thing" And Now A Legend?
Believe it or not, the Slinky wasn't originally intended to be a toy at all.
In 1943, Richard James, a naval mechanical engineer, was working with tension springs designed to help stabilize sensitive equipment aboard ships. According to the familiar story, he accidentally knocked one of the springs from a shelf and watched as it seemed to “walk” down a series of objects instead of simply falling to the floor.
That gave him an idea.
Richard and his wife, Betty James, spent the next couple of years developing the spring into a toy. Betty came up with the name Slinky after searching through a dictionary and deciding the word — meaning sleek and graceful — perfectly described the way the spring moved.
The Slinky made its big public debut in 1945 at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia. At first, shoppers apparently weren't quite sure what to make of it. Then Richard demonstrated the Slinky walking down a ramp.
The result? The first 400 reportedly sold out in about 90 minutes.
And a toy legend was born.
Over the decades, more than 300 million Slinkys have been sold around the world. Not bad for a toy that started with an accidental tumble of a spring in a shipyard more than 80 years ago!
The first Slinkies sold for $1.00 each. Today, you can buy a Slinky for $3.50 to $6.00 depending on where you buy it. A vintage Slinky can bring in $300 (that's for the true 1940's originals).
Somehow, after video games, smartphones, tablets and every high-tech toy imaginable, there’s still something ridiculously satisfying about watching a Slinky make its way down a flight of stairs. 🌀
Today, the Slinky brand is owned by the global toy company Just Play.
And now for the important question...
Did you have a Slinky growing up? And was yours the original metal version or one of the colorful plastic ones that came later?
Happy National Slinky Day! 🌀
Comments(15)