Home Today Is Slinky is the Official State Toy of Pennsylvania (+10 Fun Facts) Video

Slinky is the Official State Toy of Pennsylvania (+10 Fun Facts) Video

slinky
By Roger McLassus - Picture taken and uploaded by Roger McLassus., CC BY-SA 3.0,

That little jingle has been heard by millions upon millions of people worldwide. Catchy, and with a toy that is a staple from our own childhoods, the Slinky is a Toy Hall of Fame superstar. Sitting up there with the likes of Barbie, G.I. Joe and LEGO, this powerhouse of a toy has the humblest of beginnings. But even with those humble beginnings, it was more than enough to bring it to the attention of children worldwide, and later having Slinky Day to remember, and play with, those metal and plastic coils.

History of Slinky Day 

The Slinky was originally designed and sold in the 1940s. The inventor had accidentally knocked a spring off the shelf, and watched it ‘walk’ down a series of books, to a tabletop, and then to the floor where it neatly coiled itself. The creator, Richard James, had gone home to his wife Betty and said “I think if I got the right property of steel and the right tension, I could make it walk. “ It took the better part of a year, but he had done it.

Making 400 Slinky units with a five hundred dollar loan, James and his wife had founded a company to make, and sell, this unique toy to the masses. With a dollar for a price tag, they were interesting, but not really a hit. Until the fateful day, that they were granted permission to set up an inclined plane in the toy section of Gimbels Department Store. Within ninety minutes, they had sold all 400 of the units, with more being requested.

Only a year later, the Slinky was introduced at the American Toy Fair, the largest gathering of businesses that produce, and market, toys to various stores.

Since then, the Slinky has been marketed around the world, with both plastic and metal finding placement around the world in various forms.

  1. During the Vietnam War, United States troops used them as mobile radio antennas, as have amateur radio operators ever since.
  2. In 1959, composer John Cage created an avant garde work called “Sounds of Venice” that incorporated the sound of an amplified Slinky.
  3. Slinky is the Official State Toy of Pennsylvania.
  4. Slinky inventor Richard James was a Naval engineer who left his ex-wife to run the company after he became an evangelical missionary in Bolivia.
  5. NASA used the springy toy for zero-gravity psychics experiments in space.
  6. The name ‘Slinky’, meaning ‘sleek and graceful’, was given by the inventor’s wife, Betty, who found the word, which she thought represented the invention, after paging through the dictionary.
  7. With just $500, Richard and Betty formed a company to mass produce their creation. Today, all Slinky’s are made in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, using the original equipment designed and engineered by Richard James.  Each Slinky is made from 80 feet of wire which folds up in 10 seconds.
  8. 50,000 tons of wire (around 3,030,000 miles worth) has been used in making the slinky since 1945 to present. That’s about enough wire to go around the Earth 121 times at the equator.
  9. The Slinky song is the longest-running jingle in advertising history.
  10. The toy became a national sensation after a commercial jingle proclaimed, “What walks down stairs alone or in pairs and makes a slinkety sound? A spring a spring, a marvelous thing. Everyone knows it’s Slinky!”

Sources:

Days of the Year

AllTop

Ten Random Facts

Interesting Facts

Vintag

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