Richard T. James
Richard T. James | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Thompson James January 1, 1914 Delaware, USA |
| Died | July 13, 1974 Cochabamba, Bolivia |
| Education | Pennsylvania State University Westtown School |
| Occupation(s) | Engineer and Inventor |
| Known for | Inventing the Slinky toy |
| Spouse(s) | Betty James, m.1943 d.2008 Petronila Lazarte James |
| Children | Thomas James Christopher James Peter James Elizabethe James Susan Peoples Rebekah Morris Mirtha James Jorge James Ruth James Saul James Sara James |
| Relatives | Nicholas P. James (Grandson) |
Richard Thompson James[1] (January 1, 1914 in Delaware, USA – 1974 in Bolivia)[2] was a naval engineer, best known for inventing the Slinky spring toy with his wife Betty James in Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania in 1943.
Education
James was born on January 1, 1914. In 1935, he graduated from Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school located in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In 1939, he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University.[3]
Career
In 1943 James was trying to develop a means for suspending sensitive shipboard instruments aboard naval vessels, even in rough seas, and was working with tension springs when he accidentally dropped one. Seeing how the spring kept moving after it hit the ground, the idea for a toy was born. A coil winding machine and started the James Spring & Wire Company to mass-produce the Slinky. The following year, Betty came up with the name Slinky after leafing through the dictionary and thinking that the word described the motion of the spring. The couple made 400 of the toys and convinced the Gimbels department store in Philadelphia to carry the toy for Christmas 1945 displayed on a ramp. These first models were all sold within 90 minutes at a price of $1 each.[4] The toy became a huge success, with around 300 million Slinkys purchased since then. A quarter of a billion Slinkys are still sold every year around the world today.[citation needed]
Around 1960, Richard went to Bolivia to join Wycliffe Bible Translators,[5] and Betty James took over as CEO of James Industries.[6] She moved the company from Philadelphia to its current Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania location and began an active advertising campaign, complete with the famous Slinky jingle. She was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2001.
Richard James died of a heart attack on July 13th 1974 in Cochabamba, Bolivia[7]. Betty died on November 20, 2008, age 90 of congestive heart failure [4] at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
References
- ^ MIT: Richard James
- ^ priceonomics.com
- ^ Penn State: What’s the connection between a Slinky and Penn State?
- ^ a b Hevesi, Dennis. "Betty James, Who Named the Slinky Toy, Is Dead at 90", The New York Times, November 24, 2008. Accessed November 25, 2008.
- ^ "'Slinky' brainchild". Delaware County Daily Times. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ CNN.com
- ^ "Richard Thompson James (1918-1974) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2018-07-06.