It has been called a "glorified spring", but Slinky is one of the best selling toys of all time. From accidental origins to an unlikely resurrection, Slinky has a pretty great back story.
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I have recovered somewhat. I have to say that the City of Seattle, the place I could live, it's beautiful, except for the weather, like we had a good in its easy to fall in love with a play. They are there for like a great weekend right, because those beautiful whenever this out is gorgeous said, I told Emily she was all fired up to something out nine months after the year. It's pretty depressing here with whether bleak and I think you're does he stood
but there I guess you know your hearty everybody seemed to have their spirits up, though maybe it was the weather. I assume that, because we were in town with another think about it occurred definite when the weather
when Van stood in line and the rain, and I felt a bad, but downright they stand in line four in the rain, all the time for everything, gas doughnuts. What have you air January thanks everyone who came out it was so so yes allays every disco, Portland Seattle from both of us from Jerry too near from everybody. A heartfelt hearty thank you. Jerry was regular hot shot with WS, so I took yes, it did. You ever have a slinky when you were a kid sure I feel like I've played with them. I definitely play
I don't remember, actually owning a slinky at any point. You least years it was. It was discovered. One of the things I was like always around. There is always a slinky. You can keep your eyes on a slinky that you remember getting a slinky right in saying this is my thinking are going to the toy, storing thing like I wanna slinky bright, but I did love slinky whenever I play with them their it turns out. I was just one of many many children over the last sixty seventy years that have love slinky. I was frustrated by my slinky a bit because,
never well. I never had stairs that it works well on, you know, get it. I never had still my girl but you're frustrated. Slinky, though I had stairs go into my room, but it was you know if you don't have the right height in depth of stare is stopped.
And then I gotta do it again, where they for like really long feet where they wide stairs or where they really taller. What was the do? I don't know I felt like I felt like there are standard stairs and then just like him
We get off had the metal ones that would get all you know how they would tend to get tangled yeah. That was sore the hallmark of the metal slinky end again like people
air would get caught in another minute, dont. Looking back like how did anybody's haired cotton slinky was the deal, but when it happen the hurt, I think kids would like rats winkies around each other memories and slinky, like as rope bike handcuffs area like you'd, rapid around your friend and then started his latch it and many slinking rail. Like attaching a night.
When I'm in like yeah, but you have a good attracted unhurried that Lisbon there's this guy. I know you tube, while the Youtube video of a guy called slinky master. Oh boy, he is good he's just like basically like moving from one hand, do another making do all this autumn stuff in the middle. I need a rainbow slinky and I think it might be like glow in the dark to pull it out, but he is a pretty good. I say: go check it out and get it deafening want to check that our own. Actually, we have anything on our website on our part, cast pages, so
the page where you can go, listen to any podcast on our side, and there is now a like it. It additional linked section where it has stuff that we talk about it, links out to articles that we use for extra research here, they'll beyond slinky episode, podcast pager linked to them
Slinky Master of Unita Google that each basically make stuff. You know your homepage. We can take care of four yet and we're bringing back transcriptions right up, which we are super happy about, because we used to have transcriptions for our friends in the death in hard of hearing community in then we didn't do it for a while. There are like what gives works, and so we ve been working to get us back into think. They're gonna be back now. Yet so that's that's linkages
goodnight away, we didn't start yet so am I had no idea was watching people get their hair cotton slinky, sir playing with them in general. There are, they had a kind of a pretty neat history until I ran across this article from price now makes written by a dude named Zachary, Crockett yeah, big thanks. It's a good article, it is it's called the invention of slinky and in it, Crockett started a pretty reasonable place. The birth of the inventor Slinky Richard Thompson, James.
Jameson Slinky. I don't think you at my Rick. Now he went by Mr James Right, inventors thinking
Yes, he was born in nineteen fourteen in Delaware.
And apparently his brother Samuel said that he was always a pretty enterprising, mechanically oriented, tepid kitten because he had this one story about when he was like thirteen. He found an old car and literally
Six. The car have well enough to sell it. You're having mice running around living at any sort of her twenty five bucks, which I went to West Egg and converted that three hundred thirty seven dollars in two thousand fourteen money, not bad for thirteen you're, no way minutes, but it was a car whoever bought it. Gotta get deal with a shooting, but I mean he probably didn't get rid of the mice. He just got a thing I write again. He puts it was in his car anyway. He just took it.
Links it up here it was them might incur so in the nineteen thirty is he went to pin state and did study mechanical engineering, yet he was just a tinkerer, so it made a lighter fence. Yeah. I find that often when people like you, research, the people who invented like a circuit board for an amber something seems like that starts
you're very, very odd right, this interest than that gonna think there I don't get it a mechanical engineering in your twenties, like you, did, show psychology for a mechanical engineering degree. Yet my brother went the other way using aerospace engineering, major any switch to psychology. Did you really know that if you want to be a bastard,
a thousand, but not like a six year old. He was like, like he's an astronaut right, you re a calculated recovery,
Thankfully we cowboy surname
got a mechanical engineering degree and then started. Work is enable engineer. Yorkists makes sense. There was war too. So that's what you did yet he had to go fight Hitler, so he did he find from behind a desk there like human.
Going to near you just sit here forgot how you can make our weapons of war better exactly and he was actually working.
Something that you springs suddenly there. Basically kept some sort of firm, electronics and battleships. I think it has to do with the measuring horse power. He s a horse power meter that again
fear in rough waves that would mess with the meter yeah. You do my rock and all over the place. You would you springs to keep it intact and keep it from moving around to my train. Yet
well, here's tinkering around with via this, he quite by accident, knocked over some stuff. I don't think it was in a fit of rage,
Sudan or unwanted.
They knocked over included a spring any. He watched the spring fall off the shelf in a nice graceful arc of book, go over from the book under the desk and then from the desk onto the floor in this nice.
Arching manner in he was rather again yet apparently captivated by
it's pretty me like. This is literally one of those toys you can trace back to one of those silly fluke moments like the microwave was that the same thing
he was yet again. There was a.
Oh man, I can't remember what the actual the actual thing that makes the micro the microwave here was discovered by accident. That applies to investigate these beer, that it had these properties that, like a guy, had a choice
I can assure you that I spent in a melted, unhealthy, wait a minute so, of course, illogically. I grab some popcorn side of that happening in the microwave was born. Here I think you're slinky is actually the only place it's on. Our website is one of those are trapped in accidental and antipater, something there I'll bet. Microwaves are there to ensure this. So basically you write the White Bob went off over his head and he went home and told his lovely wife Betty Betty Betty. I think I've got something here and I just need to figure out how to
make it to where it keeps doing. This thing, I'm going to try his gains get any spring and third step. Now you can there's all sorts of different kinds of springs. It turns out in a like there's attention spring sure that they use a mouse traps. There's two flights for he had been other slinky spring. Is this super refined type of spring
that was designed over the course of a year through trial and error to have just their attention. Just the right shaped is the right side of the coin.
The right everything so that it really accentuated that graceful flow. There are king flow that it has the makes it the slinky in it
like a year of tinkering with all these different tensions and types of materials before he finally hit upon it, and I think he settled on a point: zero. Five, seven, five inches in diameter, high carbon steal, the original slinky were black metal, which was kind of cool, learn by the time like we were kids, I think they just them. They had the shiny silver you ones and then, of course, will get to the plastic that came along later, do but the persons or black- and it demonstrates property and visit sculled hooks law. So I ran across this like super hard core
Six form were somebody posted that they were talking about the physics of slinky in some ways, like simply cooks, law as a good place to start, and they got piled. I really they said there. Hooks law has to do with the amount of force a spring exerts on something it's attach too. So I think with hooks life, it does apply. What you're talking about is the force being transferred from one end of the slinky to the other and that as the as the momentum at the front of the slinky goes downward gear, that same amount is transferred to the
in its put forward, any just keep going and over, and so I dont know if oxide does apply or not. But if it does that's my understanding of how it would apply here. The one definition I saw was that it basically means a spring will return to its original shape once the load is removed, so that makes sense.
Yeah right, but there is another thing at least one other thing going on with the slinky, and that is that it goes along.
A longer to know wave. So, just like a sound wave right
clear, slinky is a sound waves, slowed down where the same type of wave, yes as a sound way and it slowed down and as this link is
Moving on a molecular level molecule the molecules, pushing the ones in front of it forward and then the whole thing starts over again once it reaches equilibrium. That sounds like a great explanation at me: yes, the sorry it avoids equal
once they hit sequel. Every must stop. Ok, but the whole thing starts with the sinking to saying that the top the staff and what it has there's potential energy store. I gotta move it to get that kinetic energy going beyond. When I was a kid I dismember staring at him
doing nothing? This is worth slinky and our ears p. Episodes collide. Has that you're the staring at slinky willing at the moon gotcha all right, so he comes up with a subtle slinky. It worked like a charm is little prototype. He does the smart thing, which is, if you want to find out, if kids actually will enjoy it, he gathered the neighbourhood together and cave to some kids.
They went nuts, they relate to things amazing yeah. I got you some stuff hitting that other characteristics and color and play with the story that I came away. Let me know what you think they made wrapped up that kid in the spring. Gotta cotton that gets here here that this is perfect is like this is gangbusters,
me like. He saw from now very early back the envelope market research did with the neighbourhood kids. It made him a believer.
Like he saw. The kids really were ended. This thing in a I get the impression that at no point was they like. This thing is: is amazing Seattle he's like this? Is it really called the spring it
six, but it just looks really need it is somehow weirdly captivating ya think they say that one in a thousand toys hits it big. Yes, if they like the air. So I mean there are toy inventors that labour for their entire lives here and never had on. Something like this
The media is one of the top ten toys and history when they give in Austria a little spring. They go slow, so
his wife wasn't super welsh, usable sceptical at first which
we learned lighters, pretty IRA very ironic in he actually test her with naming it though- and she is the one that found the word slinky in the dictionary the apparently she spent like several weeks. Looking for just the right word, let me one also. She don't waited, six gets through
They're gonna sit, alighted, downtime, so radically this break. We will talk a little bit about how meant for me I'm just a garage neighbourhood idea to one of the biggest selling toys.
Here's the thing saving
with Geico was almost better than playing pick up basketball, because there's always that guy who joins your game,
he never passes the rock he constantly bricks theories and who completely
you and then put his hands up and say no foul, no foul with Geico, it's easy to switch
save on car insurance, no
the vacant fake, an ankle sprain because you're absolutely exhausted, so
which, in save with Geiger it's almost better than sports.
I gotta slinky he's got the product,
He gets a five hundred out alone to start from a friend start James Spring and Wire Company, LLC,
near Reagan in here were suddenly got the five hundred bucks, apparently pretty easy from the friend by just showing the slinky yeah he's like how much do you need? I didn't look about. Five hundred bucks is further and in nineteen forty five, but we can guess that'd, Sir, that forty million now that now because I think, is a fallacy. It was about ethics. Sixty five hundred bucks, probably roughly, did ok, which will mean that substantial they give a friend area again, and it was enough to get things go, and I think he really I mean here.
With IP just needed an official company a banner. Basically back so has his machine shop and he has his prototype and he gets a bunch of wire. Any makes a bunch of slinky is only goes through local machine shop first right, so he set his local machine shop.
Any makes four hundred twinkies there were two and a half inches taller contained eighty feet of wire, which that's pretty impressive at a nose nearly that much easier, but it makes sense, I guess, cause. I think every kids tried to uncoil there's fully.
And apparently slinky starts out as like normal round wire, but any smash it to make it flat. Yet is it it's gotta, be flattered to perform and sit on,
It's off the island where I didn't realize, though heard it, I mean yeah, makes sense by related started out, is like a round Billig diameter type wire there, but what kind of what kind of metal did you start out? A swedish steel high grade blue black some steam
Yes, that was the wire of the day, and it was in ninety eight coils and at first they just wrapped in parchment paper later on. I think they packaged it. Just a box like its end today, but actually today, I think it's in the awful plastic stuff that you can't open, always it now, while they have
back. You can get there's a box here that, as is still worker modeled after the original box, we ask any chance you, I wouldn't get that one personally, so with the original metal slinky, then the whole history from the time he walked into the metal shot. The first time when she had the prototype figured out throughout till today. There is only one design change in the whole time, and that was the crimped the ends at after it was produced to keep her from tackling is easy and that for safety,
Didn't like cut some kids. I our rights after a bunch of kids eyes were cut out. They haven T and I dont know if they had foresight or refer, if it wasn't responsive eyes being gods out, but that's crazy tat. We re all the time
till the day I went on Amazon to double check in the slinky is still two and a half inches taller
while he didn't say many coils, it was because they didn't get that directive. But that is the same thing. Is it was back in nineteen forty, what five the I'm surprised they didn't have like. You know the mega ex stream
rattling key there like em, is powered by mountain view, or something like that. They probably do have that actually Ella. That of the original. Thank you still like its exact same yeah, the original metal ones, Nanda Fisher, watching something's, perfect right right in, and so the the James's knew that this thing was perfect. Had a great name worked really well knew the neighbourhood kids loved it you're, so courses, things gonna become like
I hit right all the gate. Right nope now you ve been going my friend. He took it to toy stores in the m. There was one storekeeper said: the city atomic age gets one big bright. Fancy things are lots of colors light. We couldn't get this thing away that play. God bless America picked up the daily double that walked down the steps. That's very cynical! It is very cynical he's exclamation point and stuff, but James Rig James was like I'm regimes and you not tell me what to do with my toys. Now and again, such gimbals, who is very famous, is the main competitor from here.
On thirty four sweetener reason most of us have ever heard again: Borsier I'm an gimbals in Philadelphia apparently said you know what I like you. I like the way you smell
I'm going to put your toy in our Christmas display and will to see where it goes from their. Yet he was local at that living outside of failure.
I wonder if that day, eventually moved outside of Philly, but I'm not sure exactly where they were at this point. It would make sense here, although its entirely possible, he was hustling hard, not that he he was is hitting department stores all over the northeast, while delawares not to Foreign Eliza yeah. They may have still been Adele where, but they are, they did talk the Philadelphia gimbals into putting this on their Christmas display. So in Christmas, nineteen forty five November
forty five, the Slinky Day views to the public, and it immediately takes up like a rocket right now again that was double coy
No, it did for weeks just sat there because of course it's just this thing that gives it never seen before the spring in the approach of a paper sitting between like really awesome toys. It's just like all. It's nothing but potential energy. At that point. Yes, there's like a spring sitting between those atomic age toys that that one shopkeeper was using exclamation point about right. Yeah, I mean if, though, if there was ever a toy that needed a demonstration to delight and amazed that was the slinky, so very frustrated with this richer. James apparently said to his wife, like I'm, going down to gimbals and I'm going to deal with this head on there and dumb.
Said meet me there and like ninety minutes or something like that, so he went down. There took a couple slinky other parchment paper and started looking dummies, yea stooping kids, but if you're here away but check this out and down, he started playing with them and apparently by the time Betty
down there. Ninety minutes later he had sold all four hundred slinky
and there is apparently align around the block asking for more here. That sounds like such a trumped up story, but you know I love it.
Like within ninety minutes. It will break the world, was slinky crazy, yet the sign of a miracle and thirty fourth street comes to India
The little twirling goes out a frame again, but he did sell those four hundred units that day supposedly and by Christmas they had sold twenty thousand. So it really did take off superfast gaff, once kids understood what the heck it was, and there was this a significant amount of time.
Chuck I used was take this time there have one dollar zone for dollar pizza, so he some four hundred units in than twenty thousand by the only Christmas that translates like thirty knowledge in today's money. I, while so imagine being apparent today and being like you, want me to pay thirteen dollars for a spring here. Are you crazy, but they still manage to capture the public imagination. Just write anything to spread like wildfire, noticing,
of nineteen forty five by Christmas of nineteen, forty seven, there is the New York Times article, unlike the fashion section, talking about how the must have adornment of the year was slinky dipping gold with glitter something something ever Bernice whether got that right. Yes, I think so. I think that another call thing is: they remained a dollar for a lot of their life, and they said in this article here that in the mid nineties are only of a dollar eighty nine now they're, like four five bucks, it looks like I saw again on Amazon, yeah, Amazon, Amazon.
I would like to twenty. Nine is the lowest. I saw hey, that's a good deal for slinky, but even still yeah. If you want a great deal on anything good Amazon, I saw others at the other. Nameless online toy store retailers. Always it would like us to do for five bucks Amazon. I could see that, though, for five bucks to make sense, but the point is for a very long time still
She gave it stayed the same as the cost of living increase, so its relative price went down tremendously and they they did their on purpose well, and that was exactly that was one of the things that, as will see your shortly Betty's one of her favorite things. What is it that kids could have achieved joy and she wanted even poor kids to be able to buy something right and here's my spring appears afflicted just give me a dollar the. So the James is
and by the time they were, they were pretty pretty much partnership from what I understand at the very least, am Betty was playing Centre
supporting role at least as an adviser possible future, but again they had like six kids and she was raising them
really mostly Richard running the company, but they took this linking to than the toy fair, the Americans
fair in New York, which is the same one that Barbie debut TAT in the fifties. I think I hear Barbie Registered trademark and they took slinky. There are nineteen, forty seven and they did it all themselves. They pitch the thing and they had people from toys, sourcing, department stores from around the country. This
I know of and slinky was he you. Apparently they made the equivalent of a billion dollars in the first two years, yet he sold more than a hundred million in the first years of production. That's crazy! A hundred million a hundred million- and this is a population of you- know the MID forties Riah site like you know nowadays
be a little more believe. A boy thinks think figure we I wish I would have thought of that. Like they're, probably worked
terribly more much more than a hundred million people in the? U S at the time. So that's like a slinky for every person in the. U S, slinky in every part.
So things are going so well. He realized that my my machine shop here and Now- Delaware, Delaware, suburban Pennsylvania, which, whichever it was, is not up to snuff and I need to set up my own
shop. So he did that in Albany New York and was like a mayor inventor. I'm gonna make my own machine that can make our own slinky is, at a rate of five
seconds. A pop you were all machine shop, was making them in a couple of minutes, first link, which was fast for back then, and for yes, a richer Jane said. I want to make my own machinist. That's really cool
lately. I think it's pretty need. Not only did he make his machine made a machine that can do one in five seconds, like you said, so, it is yes hook. It took the around wire smashed it and then coiled it there and then Second Corinthians. I guess that's crazy and then bam you gotta slinky.
You got a dollar in your pocket right there. This is where none this when it came in the black box- and I did the parchment- was labeled Slinky Cohen, the famous walking spring toy and was gangbusters man. It was again they saw a hundred million in the first two years near. To put it in perspective, I did find out how many people there were in America in nineteen forty seven, there was a hundred and forty four million people in the. U S and he saw two hundred million slinking suffer every one point:
people. There is one of them had a slinky, so that means adults or bank slinky still yeah yeah yeah. So in writing. Fifty they started to do without great adventures. Do they sought to expand the line? A bit yeah, they came up with firm courtesy of a woman named Helen Mall said, came up with the slinky dog and the slinky train, because she was a fan, the date they would like solicit ideas, and she wrote a man said: hey, I think, would be pretty need if you may like
dog walked, but the middle of him was a slinky right and so, like the reason, was up there, I can to historic exactly which the gets in mice kickback money on that there is
so the yeah? Oh yes, so then they didn't steal people's ideas either now
I was waiting for that to read that when I was reading this also nervous
like moderated. I e the bigger the pay me. I knew your nose
actually was a ended up, creating twenty six toys and games in her career, while the slinky dogging slinky train where a bigger biggest successes, but they basically paid her sixty five grand a year for seventeen years on that royalty. The thoughts which is part of my yeah, so
That's up to you, Helen Myles said there. Did you get the idea whether she was already a toy inventor that this kind of gave her the the boost she needed to become italian benefit career? Think she wise? I read her New York Times I'll bet. I talked about some other games that she had tried to create, get anything she had like burst onto the scene there anything yet, but that's a pretty comfortable living back. Then a hacker, so they all said this
Susie. The slinky worm then sinking crazy eyes there. You know that I remember that those classes that have like the slinky is attached to the big
I'd, shod eyeballs, those are slinky brand hysterical.
And it turns out that it wasn't just toys the slinky patent, the richer James, originally got back in the forties, was also licence out for other stuff, like it was used in it.
Is it ended up being used on battleships or other kinds of ships? Is a stabilizing thing like he was originally after you gotta protectors? Yes, all that to light
steers total sense, so they also made a tiny cash sub licensing. This whole that, like the slinky patent, that for other uses, besides the toys in the slinky hippo and all that stuff here- and they gave us soldiers in Vietnam, Slinky is didn't licence it, like a straight up, gave them twinkies to use in the field, as
in tennis said they would throw the slinky. Like over a tree branch and then pull it down and connected to their radio to boost their internet signal, that is pretty smart, Brittany. You know it's being used today in space. I really think they're. Using the same, I think the same patent originally to deploy solar sales in space out yeah, pretty cool. I wonder if there
sensing there? The actual they I mean NASA was using their slinky name all over the article I was reading than their pan
and there's another one to there's a paper slinky that has its.
With a metal on one side, and so the when you make a go springing to non springing. I think is the physics terms that I'm searching for sure creates static electricity and it creates enough at that, can be captured and used to generate power. No way an is people it George attacker doing it
That makes it or its. Where are we? He is sold a hundred million of these he's expanding, align in right. After this break, we are going to talk about their very interesting turn in this story that has to do with
you'll see
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So we're back Chuck Slinky is doing well. It's the fifties. There's a time of just different slinky stuff, slinky eyeballs, your basic freaking out their teachers and things are going grateful. James is right. I think teachers death.
Where's your loaded with products that is shattered, the teeth and rotten apples owner that came from giving the teacher and apple. I don't know, but I ll bet somebody out there will let us now art, so it's the midnight in fifties. They are loaded at this point. Let me did you make in terms of money. At this point they had moved to arm a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia with a thirty one bedroom estate
Twelve acres rich super rich people, yes good for them therein, Bryn Mawr, which is like the wealthiest other fellow suburbs that it still has some Bryn Mawr. It doesn't sound like a places gone down the two
No, you know so that Wealth Brenner looks pretty well see our. Why an M J W are steadily something UK, obviously wealth, so Betty, I'm things are going well with the business, but within the family. Things were so great because Betty found out that Rick James was
stepping out. He was a super freak and he was fooling around on quite a bit from the sounds of ensues like ok,
Let's see, am I gonna dig the zero and go find a here
Or what am I gonna do and she said well, I have six kids element to stick with the stewed for the benefit of the kids and she did. But apparently things were never the same after that, I'm sure and as a result, richer James started going to church a lot more yeah and it really got to him. Yeah really spoke to him a lot going to church
came something of a. I guess I took it, although I didn't say he became something of a born again yeah, that's exactly what it became. The buddy started out, obviously as a Catholic, because he used to go to confession there, all the time
seems like Alcoa, like I thought, really bad about things and he wanted to get stuff off his chest. Not so says Betty his Ex wife here, I'm Betty said that he liked the attention that he would get from confessing,
in conversion yeah. I pity you sort of a harsher nothing. He liked to just term be revered. Maybe I don't know I just for people listen to homer. Who knows that's just a little weird thing. That's a weird little thing to do is go to confession to get attention about his very strange. So as he's going to confession, as he's going to church,
more and more his arm saved his family is even though there are still at home near any living with his family's becoming isolated. Not just from society at large is because
pretty isolated from his family's. Well, I get the impression that they didn't go down the church path. Quite the same degree, he did bright
so that was causing him to feel more more isolated, causing hinder, withdraw more more and down. There was at some point
a moment where he revealed that they didn't have much money anymore, not only that there are in debt till it
Seven figure debt yeah, but a million dollars in death. Yet because he started following
all their millions to dogmatic evangelical religious groups donating
all their money, not only down any some yeah exactly. He was like not paying creditors yet for the LLC, their own slinky.
He was diverting that revenue from the business to religious groups that he was a member
yet, in this article said straight up like if you bought a slinky before nineteen sixty your money with exactly there right.
Those kind of a big deal, this revelation, that was in a start,
in the MID fifties and really thinks he's got weird and James family from the mid. Fifty still, nineteen sixty
yeah and then all of a sudden uniting Sixty Richard James said. Have you ever heard of Bolivia? No well as Tibet, because I just bought a one way ticket there and I'm going now. Don't ask me why I'm just going to join a religious group in the wilds of Bolivia, yeah I've seen a characterizes occult. That is not quite the deal. They were called the White Cliffs Bible translators in and there still around, but it was basically other mission is to translate the Bible into this many languages and get it into his many hands around the world is possible and he felt that call in straight up left his family said Psmith Relator in never got back in touch with the begin now so that wars, I could tell those February nineteen sixty and I think it was very who called it a call, uneven, Jellicoe Christian Katya, which she was upset. You know, and she read up about a man said the seems really weird me right.
Yeah. I was quite a cold, but I get it you scorned, so that was February. Nineteen Sixty that Richard leaves for Bolivia and before he left he sat Betty down and said, as you know, we're a million dollars in debt, I'm leaving. I you have a choice here. We can either liquidate the company or you can t
over your choice. I really don't care. I'm going to Bolivia and probably never coming back. Youse can a surprise that she got that opportunity to decide at least what to do with her future. Yeah like I was glad to know that it was within her power, bright eye. It took me a couple of times a reading this before I finally caught on that at first. I thought he just laughed in. She slid into that position. Yet he gave her the choice like you can liquidate, erasing six kids right, you're probably make some money off of it after the creditors are paid off. So do you want to do that?
you know I know I'm gonna try taking over the company, I'm gonna win on slinky, so she took over this company chuck. I was really dire straits yeah. I don't think we even mention that Frankie's had started to wane and popularity.
So not only were they in debt, but for the end of the nineteenth, these everyone had like this monkey crazed sort, a Patsy S
We saw the hundred million units. Yes, first, two years since nineteen, forty six,
note, the nineteen forty five they ve sold three hundred million.
I saw a full one. Third of all, the slinky solve result in the first two years, so yeah start Crested inserted a far so this
took over a company that was settled with that. Yet it star product was not so much of a star any longer and dumb kids excludes
six kids and she decided rather than their liquidity, the company to say I went to see what I can do for someone to try to bring it back and she did Yemen's reading that she truly one. I like the great women in american history. I think she's she's doubling here the story to than revered by toy enthusiasts, but I don't think a lot of people even nor name. You know no, it's Betty James enjoying it. So her first plan was: I have all these creditors at least. Let me try and get
this deferred. For now, Anne was somehow able to talk in differing some these payments again, thank God and am then a nineteen sixty two. She hired a three deeds from Colombia. South Carolina, Johnny Mccullough in Homer Vestrymen wrote the music and Charles Weekly wrote the lyrics to what would later become the longest running their. I say most successful commercial jingle of all time. It, yes, I would say, is possibly the most well known
so what some was play a little bit of that right. Now, everyone's heard it- and here it is about having been down to the fact that it had to hear so surely sounds familiar
there was a ninety ninety survey that was conducted. I found that eighty nine point eight percent of Americans either nobody slinky, is or are familiar with that jingle. So that's definitely it's gotta be the most successful jingle of all time like what else is there? I can't think of anything else to put up again
I have a coconut smile whatever I don't even know how I got there. I think that was just a slogan that wasn't a sound courier
You're totally right and you, and I of course how they have been seeing its log
Now, as I can see, that was obviously based on their slinky jingling, I went back and listers. I know it is the slinky jingle the year at least the lyrics. I think it's just while running stumpy fans obviously know what I just said, but if you like, I don't get it. What is log have to do a thing like a blog. I guess log Jingle me
here, so this was a huge it's funny. I was looking on the internet to see if I could find anything on these guys that wrote this thing and dumb homer Vestrymen has it
Facebook page, it's gotta, be him how you just click on it, and the first thing I saw was South Carolina, Gamecock sneer nose like well clammy, South Carolina, and it looks like he's making them
like video scrapbooks for people? Well, that's
They spoke pages wide open and I want to get such and say. Are you? Are you d
Maybe we can just get a like little quick interview or something but ended. So look him up. Homer Vestrymen he's on that is on the internet
everybody friend, him he'll be like what is going on. There have been stand by the friendliest people on Facebook who are fancier must happen. So I bet he's got this jungle
there. This is a master stroke ere. She also did some advertising. She really put a lot of money and advertising, but apparently I get the impression that she had lakes and she caught some good deals that it wasn't she's chewing hemorrhaging money on advertising and the very smart yeah I'm in slinky is star started arise. Once again, will she moved the facility closer to Philadelphia to think it saves money in a matter to be with their kids more, although she did you know she had a caretaker, so the kids, I think they said like Sunday, Thursday,
They are. I had a lot of like attention from nannies and things right, but I get the issues of good mom few stranded, you write by a family in right and not only her family. This this article on price nominees points out that she was also helping all the families of the. I think, the hundred and twenty percent team that she put together yet- and it says they were close- knit which definitely kind of gibes, with the impression that I've gotten of her totally so she's she's got this jingle down slinky starting to come back a little bit and also, I think, the text that she's taking as its it's an annex
the toy that everybody can enjoy right, but it still I mean this- I dont know if all of it would have been quite so possible had been assumed deputy, not happen in the mid nineteen seventies plastic plastic
the thing, yet there is a dude in Minnesota, who was a plastic worker who figured out basically away to make a plastic slinky and went directly to Betty James and the her company and said what do you think about this? She said you,
what I know still ideas. I pay a bit, but how much do you want me to make a check out for? Yes, they was Donald.
James Room and he was of Master Mark plastics and he was trying to make a garden how's that coiled like they have now like a plastic gardeners. Self coiled and am me failed in his kids apparently were like that with second slinky, and he was like Orwell limits and is of shoddy city, but kids concentrate dynamic, a garden hose
so, I'm, like you said, if they ve made a great deal in him, he ended up with tender money too, and it made slinky super popular again through and it became the slinky rainbow the rainbows here and now, all of a sudden not just arrived
slinky. Now you have this, what they call the a less tangle prone alternative slinky here, which is pretty bald cause you're saying your original product is tangle prone, still work
I think maybe they just knew that everybody knew that the slinky is tangle prone and are now they had a couple of products again that were really saleable and the Slinky STAR rose once more yet and, like I said the toy story, they did make a great deal with them. I guess it was Pixar yeah then sold eight times more
slinky is, I went to a story came out because of the dark right exactly in a nineteen. Seventy four Betty heard receive news at her husband, Rick James had passed away, who she hadn't he catalyze within a few lines of going to Bolivia. I soon heard anything from them
this is unbelievable, but she was doing fine, and so she was probably like thanks for letting you know who cares? What might have been little said. I'm not gonna say that, but I am she then sold to approve products and nineteen any aid for what she called a quote: a boat load of money and good for her Nancy lived on for another ten years to the ripe old age of ninety, and I think before then she was recognised
by the toy industry associations, Hall of Fame, Yank slinky was inducted in two thousand, so she would have been alive for that pretty yeah first slinky yeah get you know what the only other thing I had with them. You can make their star wars last or sound, whether slinky a really yeah you arm
can do it the microphone or you? Can you put a cup and Paper cup ended the slinky.
All that in the air to sit like the height of your head in the rest of the slinky, falls to the ground and the need to start. Basically there. All content was as you can make, but if you want to make that sound, you can pick up the bottom of the floor and then just let it drop on the floor. Catch a real, quick and it does that to nice makes Anita. That's the Chuck Tipp right there. You go to Youtube and look up star wars, slinky, sound and there's a couple of deeds. Of course, little show you just added to affirm that that's one of the reasons to I'd better James chose the word. Slinky is not only because it was sleek and attractive, but also she thinks she thought that that was a good description of what the sound it may does. It went downstairs. Those bewildered hours placer her. She would have called it the exact the master and there's one last thing about slinky physics that are pretty.
Raising matter. So, if you'd, if you dangle slinky out two words completely stretched out as much as is going to without putting any pressure is letting the force of gravity stretch out slinking until it. What is equally about a window? It's ok, but without this bottom touching the ground out a fourth story, window ass and you are actually, if there's like eighty seven feet ass behind that cause. It's like you go right under the ground in well mean have to await the bottom of it. I get so say for a story of european and if you have it or you're, holding a steady, some movement and then you release the top the top or start too far, but if you pay close to
in the bottom stays where it is worth. Sleek is actually have this amazing property of managing the levitate momentarily when the top is released, and some very smart scientists study.
This and they measured it and they found yes. Indeed, the top is moving in the bottom is remaining
floating in mid air and they figured out that the reason why, because the tension is still acting against the force of grand
yet is reached equal prey on the lower part of the coil, and basically
information. That gravity is that tension is releasing gravity, is about to win, hasn't reach that bottom part. Yet each coil stacks upon the next one and the next and the next one. So, as is happening at top down below it, all hunky dory still, it's like
The whole mind me far as I know it literally floating in mid air it. This is, it ceaselessly amazing, basically the slinky or those are two pretty boss, slinky tracks yeah, and what a guy
way to finish, I think so. If you want to know more about slinky you can go to the park has page on house step. You should know that come and check our slinky episode in there should be linked to this.
Economics article on Youtube sleep
master. All they want is good check that out- and I didn't say, search bar, but you can imagine
I would have under normal circumstances, which me this time for listener mail,
The call this sage from Portland Member Sage yeah. We do look you and I
into these live, shows and where people can get up and ask questions and sages was great, so I told her descended in a guys. Just got back from your life shown Portland and checks it right in to my amazing fact, I was super nervous to go up. There will say you did great by the way my fact as you can actually tell how old humpback whales
by looking at their ear wax because it forms rings like a tree? Oh yeah, yeah, humpback whales, migrate from Alaska. Why each year for meeting the temperature shift of the ocean water houses, the rings to form
researchers will examine the wax decease whales. There were beached beach. Another
age and a lot of other facts about them. Gross and fascinating, just like the actual, your wax podcast guys
I found out this while snorkeling on a cruise and why last week for spring break thanks for everything and thanks for the lift,
especially it was totally awesome with or exclamation point four. That's pretty good.
Randal I had so much fine, and I think I got my mom hooked on your show to local. So thanks to sage and her mom for Bringer animals could Dmitri did a great job. You didn't see, murmurs it or not
the large and in charge like you, do audience Q s stuff every night. That's right! Thanks! Everybody! Importantly, you guys, I think, the chuck every single person that we met before and after
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Transcript generated on 2020-01-14.