The real story
In 1943 Richard James was working at the Cramp shipyard in Philadelphia, designing tension springs to keep sensitive instruments steady on ships at sea. When one fell off a shelf, it 'stepped' over and over instead of collapsing. He spent about two years finding the right steel and coil to make it walk reliably, and his wife Betty found its name in a dictionary.
Toy shops weren't sure, so in November 1945 the couple set up a sloping plank in the Gimbels department store, and the first 400 sold in 90 minutes. In 1960 Richard left the company to join a religious mission in Bolivia. Betty took over, moved production to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and ran it until 1998. Soldiers in Vietnam used Slinkys as radio antennas, and it's now Pennsylvania's official state toy.
