Sometimes you hear stories about great moments in business history. Of course there are the cutthroat stories and betrayal stories but sometimes there is a gem that just makes you smile.

An entrepreneur opportunity sometimes just leaps out at you, literally. In 1943, Richard James was a navy tool worker in Philadelphia, when he saw a torsion spring coil fall off a workshop table. Later at home, he played around with it and decided to try turning the coil into a toy. Coming up with a name for the new object of merriment, his wife, Betty, flipped through the dictionary and found the term “Slinky” — a Swedish word for sleek and sinuous.

It took them two years of testing various gauges of steel to find the perfect material and length and by Christmas 1945, the new toy was ready for the market. The couple made 400 units, which they put on display at a Gimbel’s Department Store for $1 each. Within an hour they were sold out. With the proceeds, they launched the James Spring and Wire Company, later renamed James Industries. Since then, more than 250 million Slinky’s have been sold worldwide — many still manufactured on the original production line.

The entrepreneur opportunity of a lifetime presented itself when a tool worker was inspired to create fun out of a piece of rusty mechanical detritus. And since 1945 they have been making kids and adults smile somewhere in the world, everyday. What a business!