From the archives: Fifty years of Slinky

This story was originally published in Newsday on March 22, 1995.

In 1960, a Philadelphia engineer named Richard James - the man who 15 years earlier had invented the immensely popular Slinky - slinked away from his wife and six children and joined a religious cult in Bolivia.

Was it the annoying, metal-tinged sound the toy made when tossed hand-to-hand that drove him to it? Or having to untangle his brainchild on a crying child's deadline? Or was it a creative impasse? What, after all, could the damn thing do except walk down stairs?

Whatever the reason, from that point on Richard James' wife, Betty, decided to pick up the Slinky and run with it. "When you have six reasons to carry on, you do it," she said during an interview at Serendipity on East 60th Street.

So Betty James took over James Industries, and now, at 77, she is on a national tour to celebrate the golden anniversary of the blue-black coiled-wire toy.

Fact is, 50 years later, the Slinky has no equal. Also no sequel.

The very simplicity of the toy is the reason, says James. "All we've done over the years is crimp the ends of the wire so they're safe for children, and galvanized the steel wire so they're more durable, that's all," she said, referring to the basic design of the slinky. "If it ain't broke don't fix it."

And if it is, it'll only cost around two bucks to replace a Slinky, the other reason James ascribes to its longevity. In 1945, when Richard James demonstrated the first Slinky to Gimbel's in Philadelphia, it cost a dollar.

James Industries also has not changed the box Slinky comes in, nor the jingle they've used since the live childrens' shows on TV: "It's Slinky, it's Slinky, oh what a wonderful toy. It's Slinky it's Slinky, fun for a girl and a boy."

You don't hear Slinky advertised a whole lot, says James, because "one of the cereal companies did a survey a few years back and Slinky already had a 92 percent recognition factor."

Everything about Slinky pleases Betty James. "I love to walk into stores and hear that sound," she says. "To me it sounds like money."