Since 1943, the Slinky has fascinated children and scientists alike with its quirky antics. Both toy and physics experiment, the Slinky is an amazing product that is a Design and Business Classic.

Creating a toy was the last thing on the mind of Philadelphia engineer Richard James when he accidentally invented the Slinky^® in 1943. Working in his home laboratory, James had been trying to support the Allied effort during World War II by developing a set of springs that could be used to support and stabilize sensitive instruments on board ships, even when crossing rough seas. One day he happened to knock one of the springs off of a shelf. To his amazement, he watched it bounce playfully in arc-like steps from the shelf, to a stack of books, onto a table, and then to the floor, where it recoiled itself in an upright position. James demonstrated the spring's clever gymnastics to his wife, Betty, who suggested that it would make an entertaining toy. She called it a Slinky..

In 1945, the Jameses premiered their new toy, made from an expensive blue-black Swedish steel, at Philadelphia's Gimbels Department Store. Gimbels immediately sold 400 Slinkys in the first 90 minutes. To keep up with demand, James invented a machine that could coil 80 feet of steel wire into a Slinky in about 10 seconds. By the time the company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1995, more than a quarter billion Slinkys had been sold around the world.

The Slinky never found its way onto ships, but it has been appreciated as a scientific teaching tool. High school physics instructors often use it to demonstrate wave properties, forces and energy states. During the Vietnam War, American troops used the Slinky as a mobile radio antenna, and NASA has used it in zero-gravity physics experiments in the Space Shuttle. Despite these serious contributions, many agree that the Slinky's greatest benefit to mankind is its ability to delight kids with its silly antics.