Doesn’t matter if you were a kid in the 60s, 80s or right now… or if you’re not a kid at all!

The Slinky is an all-time favorite – for kids, their parents, NASA, the U.S. Army… wait, what?

1. During the Vietnam War, U.S. soldiers used Slinkys as mobile radio antennas.
2. Slinky inventor Richard James was a Naval engineer who left his ex-wife to run the company after he became an evangelical missionary in Bolivia.
3. NASA used the springy toy for zero-gravity psychics experiments in space.
4. The Slinky song is the longest-running jingle in advertising history.
5. Slinky was also known as ‘Lazy Spring.’

Check out more Slinky factoids on AllTop… or just go straight to the source, Answers.com!

What are your favorite toys from childhood?