Page 31 2024 Home For The Holidays Lincoln Daily News 1945 You may still see versions of this toy around today in bright colors and made from diff erent materials. Slinky has been around for an exceedingly long time. Richard James, a mechanical engineer, was trying to build a spring that would steady equipment on a boat and stumbled onto a prototype spring that “walked” forward instead of toppling over, hence the beginning of the Slinky. In 1945, Slinky’s cost $1.00 a piece with over 250 million sold over seven decades. 1965 The price this next item sold for was $.79 each and it started with New England college students in the 19th century when they would toss pie plates to one another outside the Frisbie Baking Company. By the mid-60’s these frisbees were in all the backyards and on college campuses. 1974 This year’s most popular Christmas toy was the skateboard that ranged in price between $20.00 and $60.00 and had the popular urethane wheels which made for a much smoother ride than the earlier metal wheels from 1958 when people attached roller skate wheels to a board and called it ‘sidewalk surfi ng’. Another interesting event that happened in 1974 was with the fi lm industry. Many adults and parents like to reserve the holiday season for more heartwarming oriented fi lms and television programs that concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas, the art of giving and how to give back to others. However, back in 74’ many best remember this year as the fi rst slasher classic ‘Black Christmas’ that debuted and altered the horror genre culture. 1995 Although not quite as popular, the craze is still around for the small bead-fi lled animals that in the the mid nineties led to a huge collector’s frenzy! Beanie Babies could be seen everywhere from trading at school to large weekend conventions and garage sales. Even today, some of the most popular Beanies still can go for thousands of dollars to collectors. 2015 Shopkins are cute, collectible plastic fi gurines that have grown to include books, cards, and Continued --
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