Slinky Facts!
1995 was the 50th Anniversary of the Slinky!
- Over 250 million Slinkys have been sold, or enough for everyone in the United States to have one.
- 80 feet of wire is in the original metal Slinky.
- 50,000 tons of wire, or 3,030,000 miles of wire - enough to go around the earth one hundred and twenty-six times - has been used in the classic Slinky since its inception.
- The Slinky has been sold on all the continents of the world except Antarctica.
- The Slinky jingle has been on television since 1962, and is now one of the most recognizable TV toy jingles in America.
- In 1945, the original Slinky sold for $1.00 U.S., now the same Slinky sells for about $1.99 U.S. - fifty years later.
- The Slinky has always been made in Pennsylvania, and the steel is American made.
- Slinkys are made on machines designed and engineered by Richard James in 1945, and even today, they are still made on the original machines.
- The Slinky has made movie appearances in Other People's Money, Demolition Man and Hairspray (among others) but not Big.
- Other than toys, Slinkys have been used as a component in pecan picking, machines, drapery holders, antennas, light fixtures, window decorations, gutter protectors, pigeon repellers, bird house protectors, therapeutic devices, wave motion coils, table
decorations, mail holders and other various uses.
I do, in fact, own many slinkys. My current count is 25 slinkys and 1
slinkydog, with 21 or 22 of those slinkys being nonduplicates.
Eventually, I'd like to have pictures of some of the more interesting
slinkys i own, such as the hexagonal and pentagonal ones, the gold on
which came in a green velvet box, the plastic butterfly-shaped, and the
oddly-colored ones. So check back, and those pictures may eventually be
here.
Many thanks to the
Discovery Channel for their You Shoulda Been There feature on Slinkys,
and for linking to my page!
Mail me if you want at amy@netlag.com.
I dig mail.
10-4-97
|