“It was off the market for while… [Wham-O] kept shortening the length of it, so if you're a full grown-adult and you can sprint way faster than a kid and you weigh 100 pounds more than a kid and the thing is short, and you stop short, bad things are going to happen,” says Walsh. Water runs through the tube and out small perforations, spraying onto the sliding surface. Sep 6, 2020 - Explore Joe Gulick's board "Wham-O", followed by 223 people on Pinterest. To escape the heat, the boys had turned the hose on the painted concrete, creating a cool, slippery surface to play on. The duct had punctures along the length of it, from which water could be released via pressure from the hose. Wham-O first manufactured Slip n Slide in 1961 after purchasing the rights from creator Robert Carrier. “But we were this blue-collar family and there was no way we were going to afford a pool. “It’s cool, summer splashing fun…the famous Slip ‘N Slide by Wham-O!”. All Classic Slip ‘N Slide model the original Slip ‘N Slide made by inventor Robert Carrier. “It makes you go like a jet,” said the voice over. “IT’S CRAZY… people scoot like seals!” declared the box, but that was hard to imagine until seeing the “wet, wild ride” on the screen. Slip ‘N Slide has yet to win the honor, but given its iconic status Bensch says he is “confident it will have its day.”, As for Slip ‘N Slide’s inventor, Robert Carrier used royalties earned from his creation to start an aircraft interior business. Continue Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. Operation is also vastly improved by any lubrication liquids. By attaching the tube to a garden hose, water would spray from tiny holes along the length of the slide, making the plastic extremely slippery. Cookie Policy “All we wanted as kids was ‘please, can we please have a pool,’” says Walsh. “I believe I’m not speaking out of turn when I say Slip ‘N Slide is the most profitable line in Wham-O,” says Walsh. Though the Slip ‘N Slide name has become synonymous with the product and those like it, now, none except Wham-O’s can be the trademark yellow. An upholsterer named Robert Carrier invented the Slip 'n Slide and sold the idea to Wham-O toys, who released the first ones way back in 1961. Slip ‘n Slide was invented by Robert Carrier. Luckily, the folks at Wham-O toys were there to help, via the ever-popular Slip 'n Slide. Even in the blurred black and white of a commercial from the 1960s, the footage of happy kids hydroplaning while friends lined up for a turn made a sure sell. Carrier filed a patent for the new invention in 1961, and the Slip ‘N Slide was available on store shelves later that year. Seams stitched across the length of the fabric at regular intervals also carried water laterally, wetting the repellant surface but not making it soggy. Even today it is still a favorite. We definitely bonded. Carrier was inspired by his son sliding on wet, painted concrete. Robert Carrier's 1961 patent for what became the Slip 'N Slide. An upholsterer named Robert Carrier invented the Slip ‘n Slide and sold the idea to Wham-O toys, who released the first ones way back in 1961. As for Slip ‘N Slide’s inventor, Robert Carrier used royalties earned from his creation to start an aircraft interior business. Seams stitched across the length of the fabric at regular intervals also carried water laterally, wetting the repellant surface but not making it soggy. [2] Carrier used his job as an upholsterer to obtain a long strip of Naugahyde, to which he sewed a tube to pass a hose into, and punctured the tube intermittently to allow water to spurt out. Both the manufacturer and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend that only children use the toy due to the risk of back and neck injuries when it is used by teenagers and adults. Like most classic toys, the Slip N Slide owes its existence to a time-honored tradition; namely, that of young boys trying to find creative ways to kill themselves. or “Of course, he was the real inventor, and a great father.”. As of 2011, more than 30 million Slip ‘N Slides had been sold, and it won’t be surprising if 2020’s “quarantine summer” sees even higher than usual sales. Simple but can bring HOURS of fun to your summer day! Daniel Modlin, commerce staff writer for the Daily Beast, recently declared, "I'm getting my Slip ‘N Slide before they're all sold out, and I recommend you do the same thing. ” was a portable surface for the “sport” of body planing. By the Slip 'N Slide's 50th birthday in 2011, more than 30 million of the rain-slicker-yellow slides had been sold, according to Wham-O. Read more. According to Carrier’s 1961 patent , the “aquatic play equipment” was a portable surface for the “sport” of body planing. Carrier used his job as an upholsterer to obtain a long strip of Naugahyde, to which he sewed a tube to pass a hose into, and punctured the tube intermittently to allow water to spurt out. The seniors at my high school decided the incoming freshmen needed a bonding experience, and so they laid out at least a dozen bright yellow plastic slides across the soccer fields, dumped Kraft macaroni and cheese on top, and turned on the hoses. Others saw beauty in Carrier’s design, too. The invention of the Slip ‘N Slide is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the result of some childhood shenanigans. A 1993 recall reflected concerns over the potential danger of the slides, reporting that between 1973 and 1991 seven adults and a 13-year-old who used WHAM-O slides suffered neck injuries, quadriplegia or paraplegia. A 1991 lawsuit brought by a man who became a quadriplegic after using a Slip 'N Slide led the commission to put out this warning in 1993: "Because of their weight and height, adults and teenagers who dive onto the water slide may hit and abruptly stop in such a way that could cause permanent spinal cord injury, resulting in quadriplegia or paraplegia. “The best inventions are so simple that people are like, ‘Wow, why didn't I think of that?’ But if you look at the patent, I mean it is really genius. The design also now features an inflatable pool-like reservoir at the end of the slide, intended to prevent hard stops and flips that could cause injury. Invented by upholsterer Robert Carrier while watching his son hose down their slick concrete driveway and slide down on it, the Slip’N Slide was launched to market This 25' long Slip N Slide unit is a great addition to any party for adults or children. “I think it is telling that the Slip ‘N Slide comes from Wham-O, a company that seems to have a particularly sensitive finger on the American pulse, as the people who brought you the Frisbee, the Hula Hoop and the SuperBall,” says Chris Bensch, Vice President for Collections at The Strong National Museum of Play. [4], "Iconic Slip'N Slide® Makes a Big Splash on its 50th Birthday", "The Accidental Invention of the Slip 'N Slide", "50 Years Later, The Slip'N Slide Is Still Simple, Speedy Fun (For The Brave) - Wham-O", "WHAM-O Backyard Water Slides Are Dangerous For Adults And Teenagers - CPSC.gov", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slip_%27N_Slide&oldid=1001322445, Articles with dead external links from May 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 19 January 2021, at 05:23. Privacy Statement Robert Carrier hoped his invention would replace body planing in mud, which evidently was or maybe even still is a thing because body planing in mud is "dangerous" and "messy." Not too long after, Carrier partnered with toy company Wham-O to manufacture the “Wham-O Slip ‘N Slide Magic Waterslide.” To make it affordable, they replaced the 50-foot roll of Naugahyde with a 25-foot yellow plastic tarp. The Slip ‘N Slide was born in 1960, when a California father named Robert Carrier saw his son using wet concrete to speed along on a summer day. Invented by upholsterer Robert Carrier and released by Wham-O® in 1961, the Slip ‘N Slide® gained instant recognition for turning backyards into magical summer play lands and continues to … Carrier was a Californian father who would come home from work to find his 10-year-old son and friends sliding down his painted concrete driveway – exciting for the kids but extremely worrying for the father. Once it was made, he spent time improving the design. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. From that modest beginning came more innovative takes on the idea, including substituting plastic for Naugahyde. The Slip 'n Slide then becomes very slippery, enabling users to jump onto the plastic and slide the length of the sheet. The toy consisted of a long sheet of yellow plastic with a tube running along one edge. Carrier sold his invention to Wham-O, which replaced Naugahyde with plastic to cut down on production costs. But Carrier’s son had given him an idea. “Mike told me the story of his dad saying, ‘well you guys are going to kill yourself sliding on concrete’,” says Tim Walsh, game inventor and author of Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them. But another element of Slip ‘N Slide’s appeal was and continues to be its accessibility. In 1960, a man named Robert Carrier came home to find his young son, Mike, and a friend playing in the driveway. Caligula's Gardens, Long Hidden Beneath Italian Apartment Building, to Go on View, The 'Last' Female Swinhoe's Softshell Turtle Died in 2019. She is a 2020 AAAS Mass Media Fellow and the co-founder and director of The Inner Loop, a nonprofit organization for writers. When Kransco bought Wham-O in the mid-1980s and re-released the toy, Carrier negotiated a full buy-out. Carrier originally sewed 50 foot of Naugahyde and brought it home for his kid to play on and all the kids in the neighborhood came by to slide down the Naugahyde material that he hosed down. Keep up-to-date on: © 2021 Smithsonian Magazine. ", Of course, over the years other companies have created competing versions of the slide, some even resulting in legal disputes. The Slip ‘N Slide was a very inexpensive way to have fun and cool off.” At $9.95, Slip ‘N Slide was much cheaper than day passes for the family to the neighborhood pool. From his original strip of Naugahyde, Carrier took a ream of the plastic material and sewed a tube into the side, forming an “irrigating duct” to which a hose could attach. Despite the craze in the 80s, the Slip ‘n Slide was created by Robert D. Carrier in 1960. By 1961, the Slip ‘N Slide had become a national sensation, selling more than 300,000 units. It is this shared experience—the visceral response to seeing that plastic chute atop the lawn—that makes Slip ‘N Slide one of the most enduring toys of all time. Credit: Courtesy of Toy Hall of Fame. By attaching the tube to a garden hose, water would spray from tiny holes along the length of the slide, making the plastic extremely slippery. According to Walsh, Carrier showed his invention to coworkers, and found out that his boss “knew someone at a toy company up in San Gabriel.” Trading out Naugahyde for a less-expensive vinyl plastic and shortening the length to 25 feet, Wham-O released the “new amazing invention, the Wham-O Slip ‘N Slide Magic Waterslide” at the Toy Fair trade show in New York City in February 1961. Its creator, Robert Carrier, came up with the idea of making a slide out of a long strip of Naugahyde that had holes punched in it so that water could emerge in spouts throughout the length of the material. “Remember,” wrote Wham-O on the toy’s 50th anniversary, “if it’s not yellow—it’s not a Slip ‘N Slide.”. “They just seem to get it, and capture something that isn't quite like anything you've seen before, but suddenly you've got to have.”, Wham-O’s early TV advertisements made the Slip ‘N Slide a summer must-have. … Package labeling now includes an age limit of 12, and explicitly states that the toy is not for adult use. Invented by upholsterer Robert Carrier while watching his son hose down their slick concrete driveway and slide down on it, the Slip’N Slide was launched to market by Wham-O in 1961. Today, a Slip ‘N Slide costs about $35, depending on the model. While my fondest memory of the Slip ‘N Slide is messier than most, it nevertheless connects me to generations of kids who have spent their summers skidding through backyards, soaked with delight in their very own water world. Courtney Sexton, a writer and researcher based in Washington, DC, studies human-animal interactions. The toy is a long sheet of thin plastic, flanked lengthwise on one side by a heat-sealed tubular fold. The Classic Slip ‘N Slide is the perfect backyard activity for a hot summer day. The Slip ’N Slide is a toy manufactured by Wham-O, first introduced in 1961 after being invented by Robert Carrier. … The toy that eventually became known as the Slip 'N Slide was patented in 1961 by Robert Carrier. According to Carrier’s 1961 patent , the “aquatic play equipment” was a portable surface for the “sport” of body planing. Depending on the shelf—to life adults and a great father. ” Slide the length it. 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