Original Slinky Get The Best Prices On The Original Slinky
Original Slinky
When asked the other day what my favourite children’s toy of all time was (from when I was young, that is) I responded by saying that the original slinky was my favourite of them all. When I was six years old I was given my very first original slinky as a Christmas present, and my love for them has blossomed ever since (I have owned several original slinkies and other kind of slinky throughout my life since then).
What I love about the original slinky is that it’s such a versatile and interesting toy. There are literally no limits to what you can do with an original slinky (or indeed any kind of slinky, since they come in many different forms – but we’ll get to that!)
It is a little known fact that the original metal slinky was actually created by accident – yes, you heard it right! The story goes that United States Navy vessel was being worked on by several engineers during the second world war (the date was around 1943). During this time, one of the engineers (named James) accidentally knocked a whole load of springs off of the top of a high up shelf. What he witnessed next would change the world forever – the springs proceeded to bounce off everything and some of the walked down a nearby set of stairs. James became fascinated by the way that springs could flip round like this and began to spend more and more time testing out what they were capable of. After eventually telling his wife Betty about his amazing discovery, she mused about how such a thing would make a great children’s toy, and the rest (as they say) is history! It is amazing to think how so many of the things that we know and love were invented purely by chance and coincidence, as if God wanted us to have them (and the slinky is no different, considering it has brought joy to millions of people throughout the world). After James had spent some time working out a prototype of the original slinky, he showed it to his wife and she said that it looked wonderful. That is the time that the two of them came up with the name of the original slinky (a name that is now eternally branded with springs worldwide). After the war was when the original slinky business really took shape and the metal slinky was the envy of every child in America. It wasn’t until they showed via advertising how the original slinky could ‘walk’ itself down stairs that the craze really took off, as James and Betty had, for the first time, created something truly unique and special.
While the original slinky doesn’t appear to be the kind of toy that could captivate one’s imagination for any great period of time, it is in its simplicity and basic shape that the original slinky is able to put any one that plays with it into a trance like state. The way the coils move as you juggle it from hand to hand is one of the most strange things that you’ll ever see when you’re a kid, and it is something that everyone wants to try out for themselves (fortunately, this is not a problem since the original slinky is one of the cheapest toys to make and to buy ever).
Because of this amazing story, there have been a large number of collectors of the original slinky (or of what you might call vintage slinkies) that have come out of the woodwork lately and a market for them has formed. It is amazing to think that since this time, over three hundred million people have bought an original slinky for either themselves or for another person as a gift.
In 2003 the original slinky spring was named in the Toy Industry Association’s best toys of the century award, which is something that only the real cream of the crop made it into. But the fun didn’t stop there for the slinky spring. Years after being made, science teachers all around the country and all around Europe found another use for the original slinky. I remember the first time I saw my physics teacher pull what appeared to be an original slinky spring from his desk. We then proceeded to hold the spring at either end and stretch it apart as far as we could without breaking it. We then were showed (by using the original slinky spring) how different waves are transmitted throughout the universe. While this use of the slinky is great, it is something that I’m sure James and Betty could never dreamed of!
It was only a few years later that the slinky spring was back in the news - not the original slinky this time, but a new one. This new slinky looked like a dog as it had a head on one end and a bottom and tail on the other end. The slinky spring part made up the body of the dog, and there were legs for it to stand on. This toy was made popular through Pixar’s film ‘Toy Story’, where the toy’s owner (Andy) has one of these dogs slinkies himself. This (while not an original slinky) has become the second most popular model of spring ever made, and it is a testament to this film as they really have the original slinky a personality again.
