I was about seven years old (circa 1963) when I saw my first commercial for Slinky. I looked at my brother, David, and back to the television. I wanted to make sure someone else was watching this. Oh Dear God, I had to have this. I memorized the catchy song title and almost remember all of the words to this day:
What walks down stairs
alone or in pairs
and makes a slinkity sound
A spring! A spring!
A marvelous thing
Everyone knows its Slinky!
It’s Slinky! It’s Slinky!
For fun, it’s a wonderful toy!
It’s fun for a girl and a boy!
It’s fun for a girl and a boy!
Oh, yeah, I was sooo getting one. The next Friday night, my dad took us to over to the Weirton shopping center to hang out. That’s what he did every Friday night. It was “Dad and the Kids Night So Mom Can Have a Moment to Reflect Night.” It was fun. I’d usually get a 45 record at Grants, and then we would head to the Village Dairy and get a two scoop ice cream. Fun times.
Well, it looked like the Weirton Grants was pretty progressively prompt. There it was! Slinky was looking right at me. It said it was a walking spring toy. It even had directions on the side of the box in case you had no brain:
TO WALK SLINKY DOWN STAIRS: Place Slinky on top stair. Grip the top coil and flip it forward toward the lower step while quickly releasing. Watch as Slinky begins to walk down the stairs-all by itself!
Well, this is no fun
Well, I laugh now. These were directions for an idiot. Because they knew anyone who would by coil and watch it walk down stairs is either stupid or has no life. But, hey, this was for kids and I need to get my “kid hat” on. I wear it most days, anywho, but really, think about it. It’s sort of a stupid toy. But, when I was seven, it was the berries. (I’m even talking like I’ve returned to my youth).
I will continue with the idiot directions.
TO PLAY WITH SLINKY IN YOUR HANDS: Hold the two end coils of Slinky with both hands. Next, raise and lower each hand in a rhythmic motion.
You know, you can screw up those directions. They never said to hold them with the palm of your hands pointing upwards. I just took my new purchase (for picture taking purposes only, you know) and held the Slinky in my hands with my palms facing each other, moving my each hand up and down. If anyone did that, they would really look like their elevator didn’t go up to the top floor. Their directions for that just sucked.
It's a hamster tunnel
Well, I didn’t have to beg my dad much because I had started on the Slinky want for five days. I sort of reminded myself of that little cartoon dog who always hung out with the giant bulldog, Spike. “Can I , Spike? Can I? Hey, Spike? Can I, Spike?” Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Well, I got the Slinky home and played with it for hours. It really went down the stairs. Then I found out stuff about it that wasn’t on the directions. Your sister could hold one end and you could stretch it with the other hand, lie it on the floor, and have your hamster walk through it. We stayed absolutely still, as we didn’t want the retracting coil to cut off his little hamster feet. That was probably a REALLY stupid thing to do. Annie did ok. She seemed to like it, as she stayed in the middle of it and peed. She must have felt like home.
All in all, Slinky was a wonderful toy, It was fun for a girl and a boy. For a while. There’s only so many things you can do. I mean, after it goes down the steps a few hours the first day, the excitement fades. How many times can you get excited about this?
“Hey, Mom, watch Slinky go down the stairs……again?” I did throw it down the stairs once to see if it would elongate and look cool. It was fun, only because my brother David came around the corner in the basement at the same time and it hit him in the stomach. I cracked up.
We did a lot of things with Slinky we shouldn’t have. I personally liked wearing it as a boa. Sometimes two of us would ride our bikes with the training wheels and each hold an end while riding down the street. The directions should probably have read: MENDENHALL KIDS-DO NOT LEAVE THIS TOY OUT IN THE RAIN. DO NOT PLAY WITH THIS IN THE BATHTUB. DO NOT USE AS A THREE STOOGES WEAPON.
I loved my youth.
Posted by Dana on February 12, 2012 at 6:21 pm
I loved my Slinky! I am a bit younger than you, and I remember when they came out with the plastic ones! Yuck…they didn’t make that SOUND! Thanks for the memories
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 12, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Oh, hell, everyone is younger than me..lol And you’re welcome!
Posted by LediaR on February 12, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Slinky… marketing at its finest.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 12, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Without a doubt. Next to pet rocks, of course. Marketing genius there.
Posted by LediaR on February 12, 2012 at 1:44 pm
So right!
Posted by Kim on February 11, 2012 at 1:58 am
Awesome post… as usual!
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 11, 2012 at 6:46 am
Thank you!
Posted by NCMountainwoman on February 10, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Slinky really is magic. Here is the URL to a video showing that when you drop a Slinky, the bottom remains stationary in mid-air. Makes perfect sense when you think about it. Looks amazing when you don’t.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/09/aussie-physicist-demonstrates-slinky-magic/
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 9:36 pm
How interesting! So, of course, I had to get my Slinky out and drop it in mid-air. Thanks so much for sharing that clip.
Posted by hollybernabe on February 10, 2012 at 3:28 pm
You got the slinky to go down the stairs? I never could get it to do that! Neither could any of my friends. In fact, in a non-scientific poll I have taken over the years, not one of the people I have ever questioned about it has ever been able to get the slinky to do that! You must have the magic touch, or something.
After giving up on using the slinky for what I saw in the ads on TV when I was a kid, I used the slinky to help my Barbie bungee jump before bungee jumping ever became heard of. Only I didn’t call it bungee jumping. I think it was some sort of James Bondian getaway device. I don’t recall. It was alternately used as a ladder and a spiral staircase for various small toy critters. I think I used it as police “do not cross” type tape for a “crime scene” I was “investigating,” once, too.
I also think slinky came alive at night and transformed into coiled razor wire in my toybox to keep my toys from escaping. Otherwise, I don’t know why my slinky always ended up spread out all over the toy box with toys snagged in it.
All these alternate uses is probably why my slinky ended up being all twisted out of shape so quickly, come to think of it…
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Ahh, you can’t see my left hand holding the Slinky while I took the picture. I couldn’t get it to go down the stairs last night. It would go to the next, then fall over. It was worthless…lol LOL I forgot we did that with the Barbie down the chute…lol
Posted by William Brainard Jr. on February 10, 2012 at 1:03 pm
I he’d to have a slinky too! I loved the damn thing!
Posted by William Brainard Jr. on February 10, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Instead of he’d insert the word “used”.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 1:32 pm
It was fun, wasn’t it? I wish I could remember all of the other things we did with that thing, 3 Stooges like..lol
Posted by Danlrene ©2011 on February 10, 2012 at 11:22 am
what a great memory. I too remember the slinky.
Posted by cristycarringtonlewis on February 10, 2012 at 9:52 am
Do you know that you can’t toast them…in the toaster? Or microwave them? Both are bad ideas. I think. I mean, I wouldn’t know personally. What kind of an idiot do you think I am. Duh. This is just advice. For the kids. They are caaa-ray-zee these days.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Oh, if we would have had a microwave in the mid-sixties, I guarantee they would have been in there. We did put it down the laundry chute.
Posted by cristycarringtonlewis on February 10, 2012 at 2:45 pm
I think you’ve got the makings of a Pixar film. The broken slinky that was dropped down the laundry chute by evil children. He befriends a mop, a scrub brush and a melted piece of soap.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Cristy, I think you are on to something.
Posted by cristycarringtonlewis on February 10, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Oh, and a wad of lint. There’s got to be a wad of lint.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 6:28 pm
The wad of lint is just for fluff.
Posted by cristycarringtonlewis on February 10, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Oh, no she diiiidn’t! Nice punt. But watch it – I’m the Queen of Puntification.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Na Uh. I am. You need to look at my greatest hit, freshly pressed and all.. http://dyingbraincells.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/queen-of-halloween-costume-ideas-tis-true/ In fact, it’s a little eery. I wrote that a while ago…look at the tags..wow, surreal.
Posted by Vanessa Chapman on February 10, 2012 at 6:51 am
I loved my slinky too, but I do feel you are looking back at your slinky days through rose tinted glasses – do you not remember that the vast majority of slinky time was spent trying to untangle it from itself? (Or was that just me?).
They also now have slinkies made out of plastic instead of metal don’t they. I really can’t fathom what they were thinking with that. Plastic? Seriously?!
Ooh, is it time for the slinky jokes now? – Some people are like slinkies; don’t really serve any useful purpose but still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on February 10, 2012 at 7:17 am
I only saw the metal ones when I purchased this at Walmart. I forgot about untangling it. Well, my brother, David, was the expert untangler. I had no patience for that..lol