Vintage Christmas Images: Insist on Slinky

Yet another old Christmas ad, this one for Slinky Toys, with pictures of the Original Slinky, the Slinky Soldiers, the Slinky Seal, the Slinky Handcar, the Slinky Spiral, and the Slinky Dog. For Christmas 1957, you could place an Original Slinky, the Spiral Slinky or the Seal Slinky under the tree for only one dollar. The other pictured slinky toys would set you back two bucks.

I really like that Spiral Slinky. The other variations on the original are pretty silly, if you ask me. I remember the Slinky Dog from the movie Toy Story, but I still think it’s silly.

In one of the few photos of me as a toddler, I am holding a slinky. That photo would have been taken about 1957, so perhaps some child in Trailerville got a slinky for Christmas. (It wasn’t mine, because the only toys I had then were a little broom, a little red wooden rocking chair, and a piggy bank that I would soon drop and break into a million pieces.)

At the time of this ad, a good chunk of the resources from the Slinky empire were being funneled by Slinky founder Richard James into some sort of Bolivian religious organization. Details about the organization are sketchy. Some say it was a religious cult and others say it was just a group of Episocopalian enthusiasts. (Is Episcopalian enthusiasts an oxymoron?) Whatever it was, by 1960, Richard James had left everything behind, including his wife and six kids, in order to move to Bolivia. His company was near bankruptcy, but brave Betty James managed to turn things around, partly with the help of a new advertising jingle.

Do you remember the Slinky jingle? I’ll start it for you, and you see if you can finish. “It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, For fun it’s a wonderful toy. It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, It’s fun _______.” How’d you do?

Today, you can buy an Original Slinky for about $3.50 US or $5.00 Canadian and rest easy knowing that none of your money is going to fund Episcopalians, gung-ho or otherwise.

It's a Holiday

It’s the 17th of May (Syttende Mai) or Constitution Day for Norwegians. It was in 1814 that Norway broke away from Denmark after being under Danish control for several hundred years, and on May 17th of that year Norway’s constitution was established.  Nevermind that Norway was part of a kingdom with Sweden until 1905; this is still the day that they celebrate their independence. 

 

So to celebrate the Seventeenth of May here on the blog, I’m posting the words to the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet, and including a link at the end so you can hear it as well.

 

In Norwegian:

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
Som det stiger frem,
Furet, værbitt, over vannet,
Med de tusen hjem.
Elsker, elsker det og tenker
På vår far og mor
Og den saganatt som senker
Drømme på vår jord,
Og den saganatt som senker
Senker drømme på vår jord,

Norske mann i hus og hytte,
Takk din store Gud!
Landet ville han beskytte
Skjønt det mørkt så ut.
Alt hva fedrene har kjempet,
Mødrene har grett,
Har den Herre stille lempet,
Så vi vant vår rett,
Har den Herre stille lempet,
Så vi vant, vi vant vår rett.

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
Som det stiger frem,
Furet, værbitt over vannet,
Med de tusen hjem!
Og som fedres kamp har hevet
Det fra nød til seier
Også vi når det blir krevet,
For dets fred slår leir,
Også vi når det blir krevet,
For dets fred, dets fred slår leir.

 In English:

Yes, we love this country
as it rises forth,
rugged, weathered, above the sea,
with those thousand homes.
Loving, loving it and thinking
about our father and mother
and the saga night that sends
dreams to our earth.
And the saga night that sends,
sends dreams to our earth.

Norseman, in house and cabin,
Thank your great God!
It was His will to protect the country
Although things looked dark.
While fathers fought
And mothers cried,
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our right.
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our rights.

Yes, we love this country
as it rises forth,
rugged and weathered, above the sea,
With those thousand homes.
And as our fathers’ struggle has raised it
from distress to victory,
even we, when it is demanded,
for its peace will encamp
even we, when it is demanded,
for its peace will encamp.

—Listen.