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WonderTechnology fact

The Slinky began in 1943, when naval engineer Richard James, designing springs to steady ship instruments in rough seas, knocked one off a shelf and watched it walk end over end across the floor. His wife, Betty, found its name in a dictionary.

Philadelphia, 1943

TechnologyDesign

The story behind the card

James saw that the spring tumbled gracefully instead of clattering, and he and Betty spent two years turning it into a toy. Betty chose 'slinky', meaning sleek and graceful. Toy shops were unsure, but at a demonstration at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia in November 1945 the first 400 sold in 90 minutes. In 1960 Richard left the business and the family to become a missionary in Bolivia. Betty stayed with their six children, took over the company and ran it for decades. About 300 million Slinkys were sold in the toy's first 60 years, and in 1985 astronauts on the Space Shuttle Discovery filmed one to show how toys behave in space.

Türkçe oku
Slinky'nin hikâyesi 1943'te, deniz mühendisi Richard James'in raftan düşürdüğü bir yayla başladı. James, dalgalı denizde gemi aletlerini sabit tutacak yaylar üzerinde çalışıyordu; düşen yay yerde takla ata ata yürüdü. Oyuncağın adını eşi Betty bir sözlükte buldu.
Philadelphia, 1943

James, yayın takırdayarak düşmek yerine zarifçe takla attığını görmüştü. Eşi Betty ile birlikte onu iki yılda bir oyuncağa dönüştürdüler. Betty'nin seçtiği “slinky” sözcüğü İngilizcede zarif ve kıvrak anlamına geliyor. Oyuncakçılar önce çekingen davrandı, ama Kasım 1945'te Philadelphia'daki Gimbels mağazasında yapılan gösteride ilk 400 Slinky doksan dakikada satıldı. Richard 1960'ta işi de aileyi de bırakıp misyoner olmak için Bolivya'ya gitti. Betty altı çocuğuyla kaldı, şirketin başına geçti ve onu onlarca yıl yönetti. Oyuncağın ilk 60 yılında yaklaşık 300 milyon Slinky satıldı. 1985'te Discovery uzay mekiğindeki astronotlar, oyuncakların uzayda nasıl davrandığını göstermek için bir Slinky'yi kameraya çekti.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Slinky
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