What non-electrical, no-battery-required, low-tech toy has sold more than 300 million units since its debut in 1945? The Slinky, of course! For those readers that were raised by wolves, the Slinky is a toy consisting of a helical spring that stretches and can bounce up and down. It can perform a number of tricks, including traveling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum.

The Slinky was accidentally invented by naval engineer Richard James in 1943, when he was attempting to develop a meter designed to monitor horsepower on naval battleships. James was working with tension springs, when one of the springs fortuitously fell on the floor. He was fascinated by the fact that the spring kept moving after it hit the ground, and the idea for the Slinky was born. He spent the next two years figuring out the best steel gauge and coil to use for the toy. His wife Betty found the name for the new toy after discovering in the dictionary that the word “Slinky” is a Swedish word meaning traespiral – sleek or sinuous.

The Slinky made its debut at the at the Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the 1945 Christmas season and then at the 1946 American Toy Fair. The toy was an immediate smash hit, selling its entire inventory of 400 units in an impressive ninety minutes. The James’ were adamant that the Slinky remain inexpensive so that everyone could afford one (it was originally retailed for $1), and true to their word, the toy has remained modestly priced throughout its history.

It would be a mistake to think that the Slinky is merely a tangle-prone diversion that looks really cool undulating down a flight of stairs. It has become an indispensible staple in every High School Physics classroom, as its action demonstrates a variety of physical forces and principles, including the way waves work. (The Slinky, like all objects, tends to resist change in its motion). American troops during Vietnam used them as mobile radio antennas, and NASA has used them in zero-gravity physics experiments in the Space Shuttle. Slinky’s have also been used to make cool ‘laser gun’ sound effects by holding up a slinky in the air and striking one end, resulting in a metallic tone which sharply lowers in pitch. The Slinky has even made inroads in the fashion world, when “crazy eyes” were debuted in the 1980s (surprise, surprise), consisting of a pair of glasses that uses slinkies over the eyeholes attached to bloody-looking plastic eyeballs.

“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 a wonderful toy
It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, it’s fun for a girl and a boy.

ALL HAIL THE SLINKY!

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