The problem for the couple who developed the Slinky was that one of them was interested in making money, and one of them was not.

In 1943, Richard James was a naval engineer developing springs to stabilize instruments on ships when he watched one move end over end, like it was walking. He told his wife Betty it could be a toy. She named it “slinky.”

Richard spent two years perfecting the Slinky: 80 feet of a high-grade steel coiled into 98 loops to stack 2½ inches tall. The physics are complex—it took scientists until the 2010s to model how one transfers energy along its length.

In November 1945, Richard and Betty secured a slot to exhibit the new toy at Gimbels in Philadelphia. They sold out 400 Slinkys in 90 minutes. By Christmas, they had sold 20,000. Within ten years, they sold 100 million. At $1 each, the sales would total roughly $1.2 billion in 2026 dollars.

They moved their six children onto a 12-acre, 31-room estate outside Philadelphia. But Richard was uncomfortable with the success. His son Tom remembered, “Pop used to say, ‘Money means nothing to me,’ and he would tear it up.” Richard began siphoning profits to an evangelical sect, and in 1960, he left his family—children aged 2 to 18—and moved to Bolivia to join the group, leaving the business in shambles.

Betty juggled creditors and debt, reintroducing the Slinky—with a catchy new jingle—at a toy show in 1963. It worked.

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Links:

• Talking Toys with Betty James - Alex Witchel, New York Times, February 21, 1996

  
  

• The Remarkable, War-Torn, Spacefaring History of the Slinky – Jonathan Schifman, Popular Mechanics, August 8, 2017

  
  

• Video: Astronauts demonstrate Slinky in space (1985)

  
  

• Video: Deep Space "Slinky" revealed in 13-year time-lapse from Hubble

  
  

• See the physics! Slinky patent #2,415,012 - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PDF)

This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

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