That Legendary Spring Toy: The Slinky

Author: Lynne Lepley

Who would ever imagine that something as simple as a spring could become one of the most enduring toys of the 50’s, 60’s and beyond?

The origin of the famous “walking” spring toy actually begins in1945. Richard James, a naval engineer, was working with tension springs while trying to create a horsepower monitor for naval battleships. Richard watched intently as one of the springs fall to the floor; he was amazed at how it continued to “walk” along the floor. At that moment, the idea for creating the Slinky was born.

For 2 years, Richard and his wife, Betty, experimented with different combinations of steel gauges and coils before coming up with the optimal design. It was Betty who actually christened their new creation “Slinky,” after see the word (meaning “sleek and graceful”) in the dictionary.

The Slinky was an instant success. In 1956, the James’s created their own company to produce the Slinky. Today as then, every Slinky was made out of 80 feet of wire.

In 1960, Betty took over the reins of the company. She continued to expand the line of Slinky toys (Slinky Junior, Slinky pets, plastic Slinkys, to name a few.) It was during this time that Betty also revamped their advertising campaign; and yes, if you were around in the 60’s, you can probably still sing the Slinky jingle…:

What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a slinkity sound?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing, everyone knows it’s Slinky!
It’s Slinky, it’s slinky, for fun it’s the best of a toy
It’s Slinky, its Slinky, it’s fun for a girl and boy
Everyone wants a Slinky; you ought to get a Slinky…..

And a lot of us did. Today over a quarter of a billion Slinky’s have been sold.
Not bad for a modest little spring that learned to “walk!”

Byline: Lynne Lepley is a freelance devotional and children’s writer.
Her latest book is Three in One, A Book About God (Abingdon Press)
She still has her Slinky Junior from the 60’s.