Share:
Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 3, 2019 04:44 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Judy Ward |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | "Slinky Toy Monthâ in Pennsylvania |
I plan to introduce a resolution that designates the month of November 2019 as “Slinky Toy Month” in Pennsylvania. The Slinky has been used as a toy by millions of adults and children around the world since it was invented by Richard James in 1943. Richard James developed the Slinky for the Navy as an anti-vibration device for ship instruments. Although the Navy did not use the device, Mr. James made it into a toy and began to market the product when it was demonstrated at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia on November 27, 1945. Mr. James and his wife, Betty, founded James Industries and initially produced the toy in Philadelphia. Betty discovered the name for the toy by searching the dictionary and selecting “slinky”, a word of Swedish origin which means sleek and graceful. According to the New York Times, Betty chose that word “because she thought it best described the sinuous and graceful movement and the soft sound of the expanding and contracting metal coil her husband, Richard, had fashioned”. The Slinky was introduced at the American Toy Fair in 1946. Betty, the owner and president of James Industry, relocated the company to Hollidaysburg, Blair County, during the 1960’s where the Slinky has been manufactured ever since. Betty commissioned the development of a memorable and catchy jingle for the toy which made it a national sensation. “It’s Slinky” was aired on television in 1962. During the Vietnam War, U.S. soldiers used Slinkys as mobile radio antennas. In the 1990s, nearly 90% of the United States population recognized the Slinky. The Slinky was featured on a United States Postage Stamp in 1999, used in movies and the subject of numerous reports in the national press countless times. In 2000, the Slinky was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The Slinky was named to the Toy Industry Association’s 2003 “Century of Toys List” (the 20th century’s top 100 most memorable and creative toys). According to a 2015 Time Magazine article, more than 300 million Slinkys have been sold worldwide. In 2018, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission approved the development of a state historical marker to be placed in Clifton Heights (Delaware County), where early production of the Slinky occurred after the factory moved from Germantown. The Slinky is an icon of American creativity and of Pennsylvania manufacturing. Please join me in co-sponsoring this resolution designating the month of November 2019 as “Slinky Toy Month” in Pennsylvania. |
Introduced as SR268