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| Slinky
At The Great American Ballpark...With The
Cincinnati Reds |
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On
July 28, 2007, Slinky Master Tom James teamed
up with the Cincinnati Reds at their Great
American Ballpark for a fond celebration
of the 1970s. During that frenzied decade
of change, Slinky endured as one of America's
favorite toys.
Tom
greeted baseball fans at the park entrance
and handed out free Classic Slinkys (custom-printed
with logos of the Cincinnati Reds and event
sponsor Banquet Foods). As an extra bonus,
the Slinky Master autographed the retro
box that came with the Slinky.
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Just
before Reds squared off against the visiting
Chicago Cubs, Tom was interviewed about
Slinky's history. He then led park fans
in a sing-a-long of the Slinky jingle. For
the closer, Tom competed in a Slinky Stair
Race with Barry Williams, former child star
of The Brady Brunch. William's
Slinky slipped ahead in a down-to-the-wire
finish.
For
photo highlights of the Cincinnati Reds
Celebration, click here.
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Slinky Gets WIRED For Christmas
The
December 2007 issue of WIRED magazine
listed their 10 favorite gifts for the
holiday season. Number One
on that list was the Classic
Slinky. |
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In 1943, while working on instrumentation for WWII
ships, engineer Richard James knocked
a torsion spring off a shelf. According
to lore, it steppedum, slinkedfrom
shelf to books to table to floor,
where it stacked itself back up and
awaited further instruction.
One patent,
a 400-unit debut in a Philadelphia
department store, and 300 million
toys later, we still can't take our
hands off the awesomely simple, mesmerizing
little benders. The first Slinky®,
which had a blue-black sheen, was
made of 63 feet of carbon-steel wire
and had an unfortunate tendency to
rust. Enter the silver galvanized-steel
model you probably grew up with, followed
by sissified downgrades like cute
dog Slinkys®, decadent gold-plated
Slinkys®, and Neon Plastic Slinkys®.
But coil
connoisseurs will insist on the Collector's
Edition, an exact replica of the original
stair-stepper, down to the kraft-paper
box and gunmetal color (minus the
propensity toward oxidation). Enjoy
alone or in pairs.
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| To
find out what other gifts made WIRED's
list, click here. |
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| Special
Guest Appearance At The Motivation Show |
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| Betty
James |
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| For
the 2006 Motivation Show, held from September
26 to 28 at the McCormick Place in Chicago,
Slinky Print's exhibit included special guest
Betty James, Slinky® co-founder, wife
of Slinky® inventor Richard James and
mother of Slinky Master Tom James. |
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Betty
(seated) and Slinky Master Tom James
(far right) join guests in a rousing
chorus of the Slinky Song.
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Mrs.
James signed Slinky® Retro Boxes and
answered questions at the booth whose display
covered the 60 plus years of Slinky®
history.For
photos from the 2006 Motivation show, click
here.
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From
The Bookshelf: Timeless Toys by Tim
Walsh
Released
in October 2005, this hardcover title is
devoted to that rare class of playthings
that have withstood the test of time...with
several pages devoted to Slinky®.
For
more information, including excerpts from
the book, click here
for author Tim Walsh's home page.
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Slinky®
On The Travel Channel
In
2005, the Travel Channel ran a series titled
Made In America, celebrating items invented
and manufactured on U.S. soil. One episode
in particular focused on Slinky® and
its uniquely American roots.
The
archived page for that episode can be found
here.
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