Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium — Famous Toy Inventors and Their Inventions

Did you ever wonder how your favorite toys were invented? Here are the behind-the-scenes stories of four classic toys. You may be surprised to find out what inspired their inventors!


In 1916, John Lloyd Wright traveled to Tokyo to see the construction of the Imperial Hotel, designed by his father, famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The hotel was constructed to withstand earthquakes, with huge timber beams stacked and locked together with wide notches at each end. Impressed by the simple construction, John was inspired to invent Lincoln Logs™. He named the toy after the 16th president’s log cabin roots to inspire patriotism among families during World War I. More than 100 million sets of Lincoln Logs™ have been sold since 1916!


		Soon after inheriting a successful pigment factory near Easton, PA, cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith discovered a way to make dark black pigment from carbon. By mixing the black pigment with wax, they developed a marking crayon for labeling boxes. Realizing they were onto something, Binney and Smith changed the formula a bit to create 3-inch sticks of color for use by children in schools. Edwin’s wife, Alice, combined the French word for chalk, “crai,” with the word “oily” to describe the sticks, and the name “Crayola^®” was born. To date, more than 100 billion Crayola^® crayons have been sold in more than 80 countries.


Before World War II, the United States got rubber for things like tires, shoes, and rubber bands from the Far East. But during the war it was hard to get rubber. The government had a hard time getting things like jeep tires and boots to soldiers. So a scientist named James Wright got to work trying to figure out how to make fake rubber. One day Wright mixed boric acid and silicone oil. The mixture made a gummy substance. When Wright dropped it on the floor – it bounced! Many scientists examined the putty but could not find a use for it. It wasn’t as strong as rubber. But it was fun! Wright decided that it could be “useful” as a toy that stretched and bounced and could be imprinted with comics and other print. Silly Putty^® was born.


		Slinky^® was born in the 1940s when Navy engineer Richard James tried to figure out how sensitive equipment might work on rough seas. The engineer thought that torsion springs would do the trick. When one of the springs was knocked off its perch, it seemed to walk down a slope and James was inspired to develop a new kind of toy. Along with his wife, Betty, who came up with the name by searching through the dictionary, Richard James founded James Industries to manufacture the Slinky^®.

For more information on these and other classic toys, read Timeless Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them by Tim Walsh, Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005. www.andrewsmcmeel.com

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