The toy is manufactured in Hollidaysburg, Blair County, using machines that date back nearly 80 years. "The original 11 machines that he made back in 1945 are the same 11 machines for the metal slinkys... and that's impressive that nobody can recreate," said Rebekah James Morris, daughter of inventor Richard James.
General manager of the plant, Paul Luther, said the factory produces about 3 million Slinkys each year. The wire used to make them comes from York, Pennsylvania, while the workers who operate the machines are based in Hollidaysburg, just south of Altoona. "From the start of the wire going into the machine until it cuts it off. And they're in a row, all lined up, and they put them onto a belt, and they feed them into a box machine, which we box them up," he said.
Richard James, an engineer at the former Navy Shipyard in Port Richmond, came up with the idea in the 1940s. "He was on a dry run on a ship. He was on an incline in the work area, a torsion spring began to roll down, and it went in the conventional slinky motion," said Christopher James. The name came from their mother, Betty James. "She went in the dictionary and through and saw slinky and thought, that works," Morris said.
The toy was not an immediate success. That changed in 1945 when Gimbels department store allowed the couple to demonstrate it on the sales floor, drawing crowds of children. Betty James later became one of the first successful women in the American toy industry. "Back at that time, there were no women in business," Morris said. Christopher James added, "When she took over running the company, we were basically bankrupt; her creditors gave her a year to revive the company, and she did it. And it flourished as we know."
Today, nearly three dozen Pennsylvanians keep the original production line running. The toy's simplicity remains part of its appeal. "Mom would be thrilled," Morris said. "And again it's that simple toy. You don't need batteries, you don't need a Wi-Fi connection, you can just play with it," Christopher James added.
Luther said working with such an iconic product is meaningful. "It is a sense of pride, it's a real, humbling experience to be involved with such an iconic toy, and know the family as I do," he said.