Slinky Innovators: The James Family

Slinky Innovators: The James Family — page 1 — Chapter 1 Richard James Richard James Richard James Richard James Richard James Rookie Inventor Rookie Inventor Richard James was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on January 1 1914 He was six years old when the United States experienced an economic depression People used the little money they had for essential things such as rent food and clothing Like many families the Jameses had little money to buy toys Yet Richard would grow up to invent the Slinky one of the most famous toys ever Richard was a curious boy He was always interested in seeing how things worked Using his great imagination he entertained himself by building things His toys were tools wires springs glass wood and broken things he could fix Sometimes he even sold his creations Richard attended Westtown School a Quaker boarding school in Philadelphia His time in school fun fact Slinky is the official state toy of Pennsylvania 4

Slinky Innovators: The James Family — page 2 — In 2015 Pennsylvania State University was ranked the twenty-fifth best engineering school in the nation helped him become a professional problem solver When it was time to go to college he knew exactly what he wanted to be Richard studied mechanical engineering at Pennsylvania State University He graduated in 1939 Now people would pay him to build fix and invent things Richard soon took a job as a naval engineer He spent his days designing and building parts for ships 5

Slinky Innovators: The James Family — page 3 — Chapter 2 The War The War Effort Effort Effort Effort Effort While Richard was at Penn State he met a young woman named Betty Mattas Betty was born in Altoona Pennsylvania on February 13 1918 She was the only child of Clair and Irene Mattas In 1940 Richard and Betty were married Just one year later the United States joined World War II Men and women who were not fighting supported the armed forces in other ways They worked in factories making ammunition uniforms airplanes tanks and ships Richard wanted to help the United States He took a job that would contribute to the war effort Richard worked at William Cramp Sons Shipbuilding Company in Philadelphia The company had a contract with the US government Its workers built submarines ocean tugboats and floating workshops William Cramp Sons needed plenty of designers engineers and builders During the war more than 10,000 people worked at the company 6

Slinky Innovators: The James Family — page 4 — The William Cramp Sons shipyard thrived in the early 1940s Engineers like Richard were always working to solve problems One problem was that rough seas often broke sensitive nautical instruments Ships and submarines used these instruments to navigate communicate and locate enemies The lives of the people on board depended on these resources The engineers needed to stabilize these instruments That way the instruments could work in rough conditions While Richard tried to solve the problem a happy accident occurred 7

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