James was a housewife, married to a naval engineer. In 1943 her husband Richard saw a torsion spring that fell bounce around amusingly, which gave him the idea for a toy. Betty named it the "Slinky", and the two started a company to make and sell it. Richard spent two years perfecting the idea, built the equipment needed to turn an 80-foot wire into the toy, and the couple took it to the Gimbels department store in 1945; the 400 Slinkys they had made for the debut sold out in an hour and a half. Obviously a hit, the company did well, but Richard was uncomfortable with wealth and gave much of the profits to a religious cult. He abandoned Betty and their six children in around 1960 and moved to Bolivia to be with others in his sect. Betty mortgaged her house to get the company back to profitability, and reintroduced the toy in 1963 -- and again it was a hit. She added a number of other Slinky-based toys and the company was again immensely profitable: more than 300 million Slinkys have been sold -- NASA even flew one on the Space Shuttle (pictured below). Betty retired in 1998 and sold the company, which continues to make the classic toys. She was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2001, and died November 20 from congestive heart failure at age 90.
Astronauts Jeffrey A. Hoffman and Rhea Seddon, mission specialists, demonstrate the effect of weightlessness on a slinky toy in the middeck of the space shuttle Discovery on April 14, 1985 (STS-51D). Photo: NASA
From This is True for 23 November 2008
Suggestions for further reading:
It's Mini Slinky! (Miniature Editions)
by Lou Harry
Amazon Price: $5.95
Customer Review: I was disappointed in this version of the Slinky. It is almost like raw metal and very stiff. I had intended to give it to a child, but decided it was not appropriate for a gift.
It's Slinky: The Fun and Wonderful Toy (Book & Toy)
by Lou Harry
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Official Slinky Book: Hundreds of Wild & Wacky Uses for the Greatest Toy on E...
by Joey Green
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Customer Review: As a diehard slinky fan, I liked this book. However, the book is very slight and definitely a novelty. If you're not a true fan, this book is probably a lot less interesting. In either case, there's definitely some fluff in what is already a short...
Toys Adorable Add & Slinky Sub
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Slinky: An entry from SJP's St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
by Sharon Brown
Amazon Price: $1.90
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