The Slinky was a spring that fell off a shelf and 'walked away'.

In 1943, naval engineer Richard James was working at a Philadelphia shipyard, trying to develop springs that could keep sensitive equipment stable on ships at sea. He knocked a tension spring off a shelf — and instead of clattering to the floor, it stepped down neatly, coil by coil, as if it had somewhere to be.

James brought it home to his wife Betty, who immediately saw something he hadn't: a toy. She found the name in the dictionary — 'slinky,' a Swedish-derived word meaning sleek and sinuous. It fit perfectly.

The Jameses borrowed $500, manufactured 400 units, and landed a demonstration slot at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia in November 1945. The entire stock sold out in 90 minutes.

Betty James eventually took over the company after Richard left in 1960 to join a religious group in Bolivia, donating much of the company's funds before he left. She rebuilt James Industries from near-bankruptcy, moved it to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and ran it for decades. By the time the original Slinky jingle aired, it was already an American institution — still made from 80 feet of flat steel wire, just as it was on day one.