Who didn’t have a Slinky when they were a kid? If you didn’t have one, I’m sure you at least played with one at some time.  Slinkies are part of modern Americana.

The Slinky was invented by accident. In the early 1940s, a spring fell off the desk of a marine engineer named Richard James. It tumbled end over end across the floor. This new invention hit toy store shelves in 1948, and the rest is history.

To manufacture his new creation, Richard James designed and engineered machines to transform 80 feet of wire into a 2 1/2 inch tall stack of 98 coils. Boom, he had a Slinky making machine. Today, the Hollidaysburg, PA, based factory churns out 3 million to 4 million Slinkies a year. Mrs. James came up with the name “Slinky.”

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

 Another Version (which might be the original lyrics):

Who walks the stairs without a care
It shoots so high in the sky.
Bounce up and down just like a clown.
Everyone knows its Slinky.

The best present yet to give or get
The kids will all want to try.
The hit of the day when you are ready to play
Everyone knows it’s Slinky.

It’s Slinky, It’s Slinky
for fun the best of the toys
It’s Slinky, It’s Slinky
the favorite of girls and boys.

HONORARY SLINKY

In 1999, Slinky became one of the very first toys to be officially honored by being pictured on an official United States Postage Stamp.