Today, We are talking Slinky!

by | Dec 12, 2023 | Just A Minute


IN the early 1940’s Richard James a mechanical engineer in the US Navy was Searching for a solution to reduce the impact of vibrations on sensitive equipment when onboard during rough seas, you know like you do… and inadvertently Invented the slinky, that tumbling,
walking metal spring?

Simply put Slinky was oodles of fun and It was a big hit with the kids in the neighborhood. Richard decided to have a local machine shop make 400 prototypes and asked the neighborhood department store Gimbels to provide him with counter space for demonstrations. All 400 slinkys quickly sold which was enough
for the Jame’s to decide to go into the Slinky business. They invented a machine that could manufacture a Slinky out of 80 feet of steel wire in just 10 seconds. An extensive advertising campaign was launched in America, with James demonstrating
Peak slinky-nesss to television viewers.

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.

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