At first, sales were slow. But that changed in November 1945. That month, the Gimbels department store in Philadelphia let James show Christmas shoppers how the Slinky worked. After his demonstration, ...

Seventy-two years ago, Richard James received a patent for the Slinky, describing “a helical spring toy which will walk on an amusement platform such as an inclined plane or set of steps from a ...

The next famous scene in Slinky history has the pair arriving at Gimbel's Department Store in Philadelphia on a snowy day before Christmas, where Richard James ran his Slinky's down a sloped board ...

The Slinky train and later the Slinky dog are some of the most iconic developments of this time. After the Slinky dog appeared in the 1995 film, Toy Story, James Industries had to boost manufacturing ...

I t was exactly 70 years ago, on the evening of Nov. 27, 1945, that Richard James demonstrated a new product at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia. It was the Slinky, and it was a hit: He ...

Behind the story of the invention and success of the toy, is something of a sad – and happy – family tale. It all started with a naval engineer in 1943, named Richard James.

The Slinky was invented by naval engineer Richard James. While he was working to develop springs that could keep ship instruments stable in choppy waters, he knocked a metal coil off a shelf.

Betty James, who named the toy her husband invented -- the Slinky -- and rebuilt the toy company he abandoned, making the springy plaything a pervasive part of American culture, has died. She was 90.

Christopher James and Rebekah James Morris, the children of Slinky inventor Richard James and Betty James, who made the Slinky one of the most popular toys of the 20th century, attend a ceremony at ...