In 1943, US Navy mechanical engineer Richard James was experimenting with spring tension and one day one of the "experimental" springs fell to the floor and began to "walk". Surprised by the subject's behavior, James took the spring home and showed it to his wife, Betty, asking if she thought it might be something interesting. After thinking, they decided to improve the invention and try to make a toy out of a spring. The final prototype of the walking spring consisted of 98 coils, which equaled 6.35 cm in height. Betty took out a dictionary in search of a suitable name and came across the word " Slinky' is a Swedish word meaning mysterious, smooth and sinuous. It will take another 2 years until Richard takes out a $500 loan to produce the first batch of springs. Thus was born one of the greatest toys ever created by man and the Slinky® brand, known and loved throughout the United States.

Slinky springs debuted on US shelves in Gimbel's large Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around Christmas in 1945. After several sales failures in small toy stores, Betty and Richard already doubted that their invention would become commercially successful, but all their doubts were instantly dispelled an hour and a half later when the entire first batch of 400 springs was sold during a demonstration of the toy by Richard himself.Since that moment, more than 250 million Slinkies have been sold worldwide.The spring was worn like a bracelet, stretched like a garland, jumped through it like through skipping rope, but most an interesting activity the kids had to run her up the stairs to the races - whose first one reaches the end!
V next year Richard James quit his job in the Navy and opened a spring factory with Betty. The equipment invented by Richard made it possible to produce 1 spring every 10 seconds. The company was named "James Industries". In the same 1946, the Slinky attracted great interest at the American Toy Fair. In 1950, the James family was bathed in money, but Richard changed a lot and gradually went completely into religion. In 1960, after numerous but unsuccessful attempts to persuade his family to come with him, he left Betty and six children and went to Bolivia to be a missionary for some Christian organization. Betty soon filed for divorce and cut off contact with her ex-husband, despite his attempts to write and keep in touch with her and their eldest son, Tom. Betty took over the leadership of James Industries and began to promote her products even more actively. At that time, the Slinky Dog, a mini spring, a plastic spring, the famous jingle song "It's Slinky" appeared. Betty also began to use another metal (light) to produce the Slinky. Initially, the Slinky was black and blue, which was explained by the special the chemical composition of the Swedish metal, which was originally chosen by Richard James.

Betty James, photo 2006

In 1998 James Industries was sold to Poof Toys, the combined firm was named Poof-Slinky Inc. In 2001 82-year-old Betty James was awarded the prestigious US Toy Manufacturers "Association" s award - that year she was the only one who was honored with this honor and her name was included in the "Hall of Fame" (Hall of Fame) Association 41 -m on the account. The Hall of Fame was established in 1984 to recognize people who have made a special contribution to the toy industry.

Slinks are still made in the USA, in the same city of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on the same equipment that Richard and Betty James used. Over the past 60 years, Slinky springs have hardly changed, only the edges have been modified to ensure complete safety during play and meet modern safety standards for children's toys. Today, this ingenious invention remains an accessible toy for all ages, just like previous years.

Interestingly, although the Slinky spring was invented solely as a children's toy, adults also found use for it: in the office as a pencil holder, in the army as a radio antenna, by doctors as a tool for therapy and for developing coordination, by teachers to demonstrate the phenomenon of wave oscillations and displacement of the mass of bodies, by a professor at Cambridge to illustrate the theory of time travel. Slinky is also a great weapon against stress: try to calm your nerves by rolling the spring from one hand to the other. Really mesmerizing! There is still a huge number of options for using this extremely simple, and from this even more interesting, toy.

The favorite entertainment of millions of people gained popularity on the big screen, long before the advent of the modern concept of product-placement. The familiar spring can be seen in the hands of the protagonist of the film "Ace Ventura: Call of Nature", in the film "The Destroyer", in the film "Strange Money", in the musical film "Hairspray" and others. In a Disney cartoon "The history of toys" the Slinky dog ​​plays a key role. "Toy Story" (English "Toy Story", 1995) is an American cartoon created by Pixar in collaboration with the Walt Disney Company. It was the first feature film to be completely computer generated. The cartoon was released in the US on November 22, 1995 and during the show grossed over $191 million, becoming the highest grossing film of the year.

To this day, contrary to all the laws of business that prescribe to minimize costs - and in our time this means moving production to the countries of Southeast Asia - the original Slinky springs are made only in the USA, at the same factory where the first Slinky was produced in 1945 from black steel.

In December 2007, WIRED magazine named Slinky the most wanted gift for Christmas. In this rating, Slinky is ahead of such serious competitors as Omega Seamaster watches, Canon cameras, etc.

The Discovery Channel recognized the Slinky spring as one of the 10 iconic toys of the 20th century.

• Slinky Experiment #1. "Treadmill":
  Slinky Spring Experiment #2. "Space Blaster Sound":
  Slinky Experiment #3. "Gravity (with the effect of slow motion, the so-called slow motion - slow motion)":
  
  Few people know, but there is a patent for a regular Slinky spring! If desired, it can be easily found in the Google Patents service at 2,415,012.
  

  

"Slinky Slinky, everyone loves a Slinky, and adults and children, and boys and girls! Slinky Slinky is a spring that everyone likes!
- from the famous song in the USA about the Slinky spring.
This rainbow piece of happiness that everyone dreamed about in childhood! Gently shimmering in the palms from ring to ring, the Slinky knew how to do everything: jump, swing and even ... walk!

In 1943, shipbuilding engineer Richard James of Philadelphia was experimenting with springs, and one day a spring that fell from a shelf unfolded in front of him in all its glory. He took her home to entertain the children. From this moment the slinky boom begins.

The name of the slinky comes from the Swedish "to unwind, to slide".

Since 1945, this simple spring toy has been made in Pennsylvania almost unchanged.
Richard James patented the toy in 1947 and set up a spring manufacturing company, James Industries.

Before you is an excerpt from an article published in 1948 about the inventor of the slinky spring - Richard James.

Slinky manufacturing has become a family business for the James family. Later, when Richard himself retired from the company, his wife, Betty James, took over the entire work of the company for the production of springs.

In 2001 82-year-old Betty James was awarded the prestigious US Toy Manufacturers "Association" s award - her name was included in the "Hall of Fame".

The first R. James spring had 98 turns and when folded was 6.35 cm high, it could be stretched in a straight line for 30 meters.

The original slinky was made of black and blue metal, then the metal was changed to light.
Over 60 years of work, the factory in the USA has developed the formula for the ideal plastic for Slinky springs: strong, elastic and resistant to deformation.

Later, many firms began to make “fake” slinks, began to produce plastic slinks, changed its shape (in the form of hearts, stars, butterflies), colors, sizes.

The rainbow spring is one of the most popular fakes from Southeast Asia.

But the real Slinky spring is still produced only in the USA at a single factory - the same one where the first batch was produced in 1954, and there is only round shape and one color. Since the first release, over 250 million Slinky have been sold worldwide.

All over the world you can find other names for this toy. So, for example, in Russia it was called "rainbow" and "onda" ("ondamania master").

Children wore a spring on their arm like a bracelet, jumped over it like a skipping rope, made garlands, tangled and unraveled, Slinky is also called a "walking" spring. It looks especially beautiful when "descending" from the stairs. It can be launched up the stairs for a race - whose first one will go down. It is interesting that only a round spring descends this way, springs of a different shape cannot “walk” exactly up the stairs

Although the Slinky spring was invented as a children's toy, adults have also found use for it. For example, such springs were used as mobile radio antennas during the Vietnam War.

Slinky has a fairly large mass and very little rigidity.
Since the slinky spring has a very low coefficient of elasticity, this property allows interesting experiments to be carried out with it.

A Slinky can walk down stairs or down an incline.
It is enough to install it on the edge of the step in a vertical position and push it to the bottom, and it will walk. When the entire spring "flows" to the lower step, the upper end, having described the arc, will step over to the next step, and so on.

The main reason is that the upper end of the spring has a high enough speed that allows it to step over to the next step. This is an analogue of a self-oscillating system in which potential and kinetic energies are converted into each other. To improve the walking of the spring, it is desirable to reduce its elasticity, increase the mass and start the spring from low steps.

Spring - slinky is convenient for demonstrating oscillatory processes.

With its help, it is easy to model longitudinal mechanical waves and study their properties. To do this, the spring is stretched, one of its turns is compressed along the axis, then oscillations begin. A wave of compression and rarefaction runs along the spring, reflecting from its ends.

If the slinky is slightly stretched, then the speed of the waves will increase, because. there is a decrease in the density of the medium of propagation of longitudinal waves.

In 2001, the Slinky was named the official toy of the State of Pennsylvania, and the Discovery Channel recognized the Slinky spring as one of the 10 iconic toys of the 20th century. In 1999, in the United States, in the Celebrate the Century series, summing up the 20th century, a postage stamp was issued with the image of this toy.

The Slinky spring was taken on a space flight by NASA astronauts and conducted experiments to study gravity in space. Slinky springs are exhibited at the famous museum "The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York" and are included, along with Barbie, Monopoly and Lego, in the "National Toy Hall of Fame" list.

So let's play slinky!

Remember everyone's favorite childhood toy rainbow spring? Strictly speaking, its official name is Slinky, and the history of the creation of the cult toy dates back to 1943. Many fans of this funny little thing do not know that it was invented quite by accident.

In 1943, naval mechanical engineer Richard James worked at the William shipyards, where he developed springs that could support and stabilize ships' sensitive instruments in stormy conditions. As he reached for one of the springs he had created, it suddenly flew off the shelf. But she did it in an unimaginable way: the spring began to write out a series of arcs, “stepping” first onto a stack of books, then onto a table, and then onto the floor. Richard was extremely fond of the maneuverable little thing, and he began to improve the spring, testing different types steel and tension levels.

After a year of work, Richard James was ready to introduce a new invention to the world. His wife, Betty, had doubts about her husband's intentions, but those doubts were quickly dispelled after she saw the final product. When the first one appeared, the children in the neighborhood eagerly waited in line to try out the new toy.

Richard and Betty James took out a $500 loan and formed James Industries, originally known as the James Spring & Wire company. The first 400 units were made from high quality blue-black Swedish steel. Each toy was hand-wrapped in yellow paper and was supposed to sell for one dollar apiece.

But all the toy stores quickly rejected Richard's new invention. In 1945, the Gimbels department store decided to give the couple a chance, and then Richard and Betty demonstrated the invention to the general public for the first time in the toy section. All 400 units were sold in just 90 minutes. And by the end of the 20th century, there were already more than 250 million copies sold. Nowadays, slinky can be seen in all stores in the world in metal and plastic versions.

1. From 1945 to the present, 50 thousand tons of wire have been used in the manufacture of the Slinky, which would be enough to wrap the globe 121 times around the equator.

2. In 1960, Richard James left his deeply indebted company and moved to Bolivia. His wife, Betty, refused to go with him, so he handed over the management of the company to her. Betty turned out to be a much better leader than her ex-husband. The company expanded significantly under the leadership of ex-wife inventor, thanks to which the Slinks have survived to this day.

3. Betty James died at the age of 90 in 2008, and her ex-husband Richard died just 14 years after moving to Bolivia in 1974.

4. In 1945, the Slinky sold for $1; today, the standard American price for the iconic toy is $1.99.

5. US troops in Vietnam used a Slinky spring as a radio antenna, and NASA used this toy in some weightlessness experiments.

A plastic spring made of many coils of all colors of the rainbow. It was invented in 1943 by US Navy engineer Richard James, who experimented with springs to invent a device to combat

the pitching of the ship. He dropped the bundled wire onto the floor. The wire twisted and bounced in a funny way. In 1945, James and his wife, Betty, began manufacturing the slinky spring toy for children. There are two versions of the origin of the name of the toy: from the words "snake like motion" - "snake movement", or from the Swedish "slinky" - "winding". In Russia, she was also called "rainbow" and "onda" ("ondamania master").

The rainbow could be tossed from hand to hand, calming the nerves and listening to the crackling of the rings. Also, the toy had the ability to walk, going down the stairs. The diameter of the rings made it possible to wear a spring on the wrist.

Often the rainbow is tangled. If it was incorrectly or roughly untangled, it lost its properties. It quickly became dirty, from which the coils stuck together.

Children organized competitions, whose spring walks the stairs longer, or simply measured the number of rings.

Subsequently, springs appeared in the form of hearts and stars.

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Additions to the article:

In the section on the question Who remembers, in the 90s there was a toy - a long, multi-colored spring, what was it called? given by the author Skazochnik2007 the best answer is A plastic spring made of many coils of all colors of the rainbow. It was invented in 1943 by US Navy engineer Richard James, who experimented with springs to invent a device to combat
the pitching of the ship. He dropped the bundled wire onto the floor. The wire twisted and bounced in a funny way. In 1945, James and his wife, Betty, began manufacturing the slinky spring toy for children. There are two versions of the origin of the name of the toy: from the words "snake like motion" - "snake movement", or from the Swedish "slinky" - "winding". In Russia, she was also called "rainbow" and "onda" ("ondamania master").
The rainbow could be tossed from hand to hand, calming the nerves and listening to the crackling of the rings. Also, the toy had the ability to walk, going down the stairs. The diameter of the rings made it possible to wear a spring on the wrist.
Often the rainbow is tangled. If it was incorrectly or roughly untangled, it lost its properties. It quickly became dirty, from which the coils stuck together.
Children organized competitions, whose spring walks the stairs longer, or simply measured the number of rings.
Subsequently, springs appeared in the form of hearts and stars.

Answer from Olga Belyaeva[newbie]
Slinky

Answer from Yotanislav Matyunin[newbie]
Slinky or rainbow

Answer from Olga Chepurina[active]
spiral, but actually, correctly slinky, but we called spiral or spring.

Answer from Oleg Gubarev[newbie]
we called her wonder

Answer from Yovetlana Gazizova[master]
Rainbow

Answer from [email protected] [guru]
I had one - I just adored her, although now I understand how stupid it was! And she was called "Onti" :-))

Answer from Irina Furmanets(Donskova-Kaposhko)[guru]
Rainbow

Answer from [active]
By the way, yes! Pts was a cool toy, but I don’t remember the name :))

Answer from Amperatar Galahtike[guru]
this spring is called "Slinky"...
p.s. yo-yos are disks on a string...

Answer from Vasili molokanov[guru]
Serpentino

Answer from Yotya Motya[guru]
She had many names... Ponti, fontagiro, amdomania...