It was based on a primitive version of the synthetic speech technology that drives things like Alexa today. He gives educational seminars on topics like "plastic corrosion." The Speak & Spell was created by Texas Instruments (yes, the people behind your high school graphing calculator) using solid state technology rather than tape-recorded speech, as all previous talking toys had done. Spell, based on the popular 1980s Speak & Spell toy, is a professor-like character. He would sell the rights for $25,000 to the Ohio Art Company, which made it an everlasting bestseller. He received a patent for it in 1962 under the name of his accountant, Arthur Granjean. Inspired, Cassagnes developed a toy based on the same principle. This was because the pencil had made lines through particles of a metallic powder produced in the factory, which were stuck to the decal through static. He saw that the marks were visible on the other side of the decal. Cassagnes made some pencil marks on a protective decal while installing a light-switch plate. He was inspired by a serendipitous encounter at work in a wallcovering factory.
The venerable Etch A Sketch was invented by French electrical technician AndrÇ Cassagnes. Shiny red Etch A Sketch-"Sketch" in the movies-uses his writing ability to send messages to the toy team. Her 1957 Slinky Dog patent shows Slink in both the closed and expanded position. He wanted to see what would happen if his Christmas Slinky had wheels attached. Slinky Dog and its cousin, Slinky Train, were allegedly inspired by her 6-year-old son. She developed more than two dozen toys and games over the course of her career. Malsed, who'd been forced to drop out of college when the Depression hit, became a toy inventor. But it was a northwestern lumber baron's daughter named Helen Malsed who turned the Slinky into the Slinky Dog.
James was inspired by a torsion spring flipping over on a ship's deck. It was invented in the 1940s by naval engineer Richard James (and named by his wife, Betty). Slink is, of course, based on the iconic Slinky toy. Slinky Dog, AKA "Slink," is Woody's loyal right-hand dog, who often uses his stretchable body to aid in rescues. Patent and Trademark Office archives for the original patents and backstories on the now-beloved Toy Story characters.
The classic playthings of the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s featured in the Toy Story series come from the golden age of toy innovation. Medieval European kids played war with miniature soldiers.īut it wasn't until the 20th century that toys began to be mass marketed-and therefore, patented. Children of China's Zhou Dynasty flew kites. Ancient Egyptian children had a game resembling jacks.
Neolithic kids are presumed to have played with sticks and clay balls.