Slinky stamp springs onto mail

February 19, 1999
Web posted at: 8:28 AM EST (1328 GMT)

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) -- It walks
down stairs alone or in pairs, and now the Slinky toy
sticks to envelopes, too.

The Slinky, which has been entertaining youngsters
since the 1940s, has been honored on a new Postal
Service stamp. The unveiling came Thursday at the
headquarters of Slinky manufacturer James Industries in
Hollidaysburg, about 85 miles east of Pittsburgh.

It's part of a line of stamps representing the '40s. Naval
engineer Richard James invented the coiled, springy toy
that went on sale in 1945.

"It's nice so many people think of the Slinky as the representative toy of the '40s," said Thomas James, a Slinky
spokesman.

James Industries is owned by toy company Poof Products Inc.

Other postal stamps for the 1940s depict antibiotics, filmmaker Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane," World War II, Big
Bands and "A Streetcar Named Desire."

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