The Slinky was invented in 1943 by Dick James, in a ship yard in Philadelphia. He and other mechanical engineers were trying to figure out a way to keep delicate war ship instruments functioning properly in rough waters, amid storms, churning propellers, and recoil from giant guns . They often went haywire if bumped around. James idea was to attach a spring to each instrument to lessen the shock. He tried hundreds of varieties of springs of all different sizes, tensions, and thickness. One day, one of the lesser tension springs fell off his desk and landed on the floor. James was amazed at what he saw. It moved around as if it had a life of it's own, twisting and dancing. At the end of the day he brought it home for his young son Tommy to play with. Tommy couldn't keep his hands off the thing ! Eventually his son pushed it down the stairs and to the surprise of both, the spring walked down the stairs ! Later, when neighborhood kids came over and showed a similar fascination with it, James knew he was on to something. He spent some time perfecting it and saving money to have a bunch made. On November 27, 1945, at the start of the Christmas season, a department store in Philadelphia agreed to sell them with him demonstrating them . All 100 he had brought sold out quickly at $1 each. He called his wife to bring 400 more. Those 400 also sold out in less than 2 hours ! He had a big hit on his hands. He got the Slinky patented, quit his job, and spent his full time having them made and selling them. He made a lot of money and he made his wife the president of the company ! Over 300 million Slinkys were made over the years !
@@clintonearlwalker I know, they didn't really go down most stairs very good, but that's what I read. And your right, I had a slinky as a child and though it was fun at first, I gave up on it when it kept getting tangled. I then went on to my next toy.
@@clintonearlwalkerWork on your fine motor skills or patience. Put in the keywords, slinky walking down stairs and you'll see lots of videos showing slinky success on youtube.
I am personally of a mind that toy commercials have gotten progressively worse as time has gone on. This is peak. This makes me want to go out, right now, and buy a slinky, and I'm a grown man lol
That commercial aired in 1962 and 1963 when I was 5. I remember watching it. Many versions of the commercial aired in the 1960's. The 1962 version said "Under $1" at the end of the commercial. I remember the music.
I still remember this song and most of the lyrics. What would this advertising company think if they had known people would remember this 60 years later?!
Oh yeah, I remember that as a kid. Slinky, a spinning top, jacks, a Daisy BB gun, a sling shot, a bow and arrow--all toys of the real world. Too bad today that kids are sold toys in the virtual world.
"What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs, Rolls over your neighbor's dog? What's great for a snack, and fits on your back, it's LOG, LOG LOG! It's LOG, LOG, It's big, it's heavy, it's wood! It's Log, Log, It's Better than bad, it's good! Everyone wants a Log, You're gonna love it, Log! Come on and get your, LOG!"
Saw a slinky in the classic box yesterday and the thing doesn’t spring down the stairs. Such a shame they can’t get a soft metal spring at 70s level tech
They don't make it long enough anymore, and made out of some kind of cheap metal. Typical of all the toy companies that charge a fortune for cr@p toys that fall apart or don't stand up to even minimal use. Kids today are getting ripped off.
Anyone know the singer for the jingle or if it was covered by a pop group such as the T-Bones covered other commercial jingles and made them Into hits.
Wow, the ad says it's less than 1 $. I justed looked it up on a selling platform. The Original Slinky ist no available for ~23 $... For a spiral made out of metal. That's crazy.
I'm 62, still have my metal Slinky that I got when this commercial was new. I played with it a LOT; it did get tangled up sometimes, but it never got bent, and still works as well as ever. Kids' hands often smell funny, but a little soap and water fixes that.
No big deal. And they only bent if you didn't handle them properly. Same thing with Silly Putty. Had loads of fun with laying it over the Saturday comics, peeling it off and stretching it out. But if you dropped it on the carpet and got it full of fuzz and hair it was game over. But we consoled ourselves and went out and got some PEZ and some Wonder Woman and Archie comics.....
