Professor Scott Galloway — founder of redenvelope.com — has a reputation for being a self-important “jackass” and appears to have adopted the phrase “get your shit together” as his personal carpe diem. He was also on the New York Times board of directors before resigning last week. He also has a little William Wallace in him.

Regardless, I’m quite impressed with his craftsmanship in taking this budding, entitled entrepreneur down a few notches. I emailed Galloway for comment, but he’s a little confused about “what email you’re referring to.” So I get the sense that he’s done this sort of thing before. According to one friend-of-a-friend of an NYU student who received the email, Galloway initiated the forwarding: “To give a little background, Scott Galloway is a professor at NYU Stern School of Business. He was also the founder of RedEnvelope.com. He teaches a Brand Management class at the school. Anyway, the student below sent him an e-mail to which Prof. Galloway responded. Galloway then proceeded to send it to his TA and instructed him to XXXX out the student’s name and then forward it to the rest of the class. The e-mail now appears to be making the rounds.”

Galloway has yet to confirm if he sent it to his TA who then forwarded it to his class. Either way, enjoy the BOOM BITCH-iness of this thing in its proper context. It has a very “Always Wear Sunscreen”-type appeal to it, if you choose to forget that Professor Galloway might be kind of a dick .

Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 7:15:11 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Brand Strategy Feedback

Prof. Galloway,

I would like to discuss a matter with you that bothered me. Yesterday evening I entered your 6pm Brand Strategy class approximately 1 hour late. As I entered the room, you quickly dismissed me, saying that I would need to leave and come back to the next class. After speaking with several students who are taking your class, they explained that you have a policy stating that students who arrive more than 15 minutes late will not be admitted to class.

As of yesterday evening, I was interested in three different Monday night classes that all occurred simultaneously. In order to decide which class to select, my plan for the evening was to sample all three and see which one I like most. Since I had never taken your class, I was unaware of your class policy. I was disappointed that you dismissed me from class considering (1) there is no way I could have been aware of your policy and (2) considering that it was the first day of evening classes and I arrived 1 hour late (not a few minutes), it was more probable that my tardiness was due to my desire to sample different classes rather than sheer complacency.

I have already registered for another class but I just wanted to be open and provide my opinion on the matter.

Regards,
xxxx

—
xxxx
MBA 2010 Candidate
NYU Stern School of Business
xxxx.nyu.edu
xxx-xxx-xxxx

The Reply:

—— Forwarded Message ——-
From: scott@stern.nyu.edu
To: “xxxx”
Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 9:34:02 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Re: Brand Strategy Feedback

xxxx:

Thanks for the feedback. I, too, would like to offer some feedback.

Just so I’ve got this straight…you started in one class, left 15-20 minutes into it (stood up, walked out mid-lecture), went to another class (walked in 20 minutes late), left that class (again, presumably, in the middle of the lecture), and then came to my class. At that point (walking in an hour late) I asked you to come to the next class which “bothered” you.

Correct?

You state that, having not taken my class, it would be impossible to know our policy of not allowing people to walk in an hour late. Most risk analysis offers that in the face of substantial uncertainty, you opt for the more conservative path or hedge your bet (e.g., do not show up an hour late until you know the professor has an explicit policy for tolerating disrespectful behavior, check with the TA before class, etc.). I hope the lottery winner that is your recently crowned Monday evening Professor is teaching Judgement and Decision Making or Critical Thinking.

In addition, your logic effectively means you cannot be held accountable for any code of conduct before taking a class. For the record, we also have no stated policy against bursting into show tunes in the middle of class, urinating on desks or taking that revolutionary hair removal system for a spin. However, xxxx, there is a baseline level of decorum (i.e., manners) that we expect of grown men and women who the admissions department have deemed tomorrow’s business leaders.

xxxx, let me be more serious for a moment. I do not know you, will not know you and have no real affinity or animosity for you. You are an anonymous student who is now regretting the send button on his laptop. It’s with this context I hope you register pause…REAL pause xxxx and take to heart what I am about to tell you:

xxxx, get your shit together.

Getting a good job, working long hours, keeping your skills relevant, navigating the politics of an organization, finding a live/work balance…these are all really hard, xxxx. In contrast, respecting institutions, having manners, demonstrating a level of humility…these are all (relatively) easy. Get the easy stuff right xxxx. In and of themselves they will not make you successful. However, not possessing them will hold you back and you will not achieve your potential which, by virtue of you being admitted to Stern, you must have in spades. It’s not too late xxxx…

Again, thanks for the feedback.

Professor Galloway

We’re serious. Did you know a dollar bill has hidden pictures, flecks of color, and mysterious symbols? And that’s just the beginning. What do all those seemingly random letters and Latin phrases mean, anyway?

The Basics: How much is a dollar worth?

The question seems simple, but the answer is quite complex. Since 1973, the dollar bill has had no value tied to it. You cannot trade in a dollar to the government for gold, silver, or any other commodity. The value of the nation’s currency is related to the decree by the government that a dollar is legal tender for all debts. This means if someone attempts to pay a debt using dollars, the person being paid must accept the money or the law no longer recognizes the debt. This is important enough that the phrase is printed on every bill the government creates.

It is also vital for the nation’s citizens to agree that the bills have value. If the members of a society decided that they did not believe in the currency, it would quickly be worth no more than the paper it is printed on. For the record, each bill costs the government 6.4 cents to print.

What kind of paper are the bills made from?

Bills are made from a blend of linen and cotton, which is why they don’t fall apart in the wash the way paper does. If you look closely, you can see red and blue silk fibers woven throughout the bill. The threads are thought to be an anti-counterfeit measure.

Hint: Look in the white spaces on the face of the bill for little bits of the colored thread. They look like lint but you can’t scratch them off!

On the face of a dollar, what does the letter inside the circular seal mean?

The black seal with the big letter in the middle signifies the Federal Reserve bank that placed the order for the bill. A = Boston, B = New York City, C = Philadelphia, D = Cleveland, E = Richmond, Va., F = Atlanta, G = Chicago, H = St. Louis, I = Minneapolis, J = Kansas City, K = Dallas, and L = San Francisco.

The letter also corresponds to the black number that is repeated four times on the face of the bill. For example, if you have a bill from Dallas with the letter K, then the number on the bill will be 11 because K is the eleventh letter in the alphabet.

Can you find any tiny owls or spiders hidden on the front of the bill?

Many people believe they can see a tiny owl (some say it is a spider) next to the large “1″ on the upper right of the bill. If you look at the shield shape that surrounds that “1,” the tiny owl rests on the top left corner.

More than likely, the markings are nothing, just a point where the webbed design of the border varies. That won’t stop some people from associating the peculiar detail with Masonic symbols, or with more practical things, like anti-counterfeit measures.

The Great Seal of the United States

The green back of the dollar bill features the two sides of The Great Seal of the United States. The founding fathers approved its design in 1782. Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all had a hand in devising it. The seal provides great insight into the values of the newborn nation and, like the Constitution, provides a direct link to its formative days.

What does Annuit Coeptis mean?

The first of three Latin phrases on the back of the bill is translated as “God has favored our undertakings.” Many founders, Franklin and George Washington among them, believed that God’s will was behind the successful creation of the United States.

Beneath the pyramid, what does Novus Ordo Seclorum mean?

These Latin words mean “New order of the ages.” Charles Thomson, a statesman involved in the design of The Great Seal of the United States, proposed the phrase to signify the beginning of what he called “the new American Era,” which he said began in 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Why is MDCCLXXVI on the bottom of the pyramid?

The letters are Roman numerals for 1776. M is 1,000, D is 500, CC is 200, L is 50, XX is 20, VI is 6. Add the numerals on the pyramid together and you get the year 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, and when the Novus Ordo Seclorum began.

Why is there an unfinished pyramid with a glowing eye?

Thomson explained the sturdy pyramid as a symbol of “strength and duration”. He did not explain its unfinished state, but many believe it signified that our nation remained unfinished. The pyramid also stops at 13 steps, the number of the original colonies.

The “Eye of Providence” is a visual representation of the words Annuit Coeptis, and reinforces the founders’ notion that God looked upon the endeavor of the new nation with favor. Many theorists mistakenly believe the symbolism of the eye is related to the Freemasons (a secret society whose members believed they were under the careful scrutiny of God), but the symbolism of the glowing eye is far older than any Freemason thinking. Scholars have traced versions of the symbol as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

What does E Pluribus Unum mean?

“Out of many, one.” The 13 disparate colonies came together to form one nation.

Why a bald eagle? The founders wanted an animal native to America to be the new nation’s symbol. In its talons the eagle holds arrows and olive branches, signifying war and peace.

Here are some other popular myths concerning Twinkies:

•Twinkies aren’t baked. The sponge cake instead is made from a chemical reaction that causes a cake-like material to foam up. It is then colored dark brown at the bottom to give the appearance of being baked. (This is of course false. Twinkies are in fact baked and their primary ingredients are flour, sugar, and eggs.)
•Contain a chemical used in embalming fluid which helps account for some of their extreme longevity. (wrong again!)
•The Twinkie will last longer than the cellophane wrapper they’re wrapped in (nope, 25 days and then they get stale and go bad in a similar fashion to any other bread)
Here’s some actual true information about Twinkies. Twinkies were created in 1930 as ladyfinger-shaped spongecakes. They were first thought up by James A. Dewar, the vice president of Continental Bakeries who sold under the Hostess brand. Dewar sought to put the machines used to make cream filled strawberry shortcake to good use when strawberrys were out of season and the machines normally sat idle. So he got an idea to create a banana cream filled cake. That’s right. Originally, Twinkies were filled with banana cream, which I suppose explains why they chose to make them look as they do.

During World War II however, bananas became scarce. Hostess then decided to switch to vanilla cream. This ended up being much more popular than the banana filled version; so when bananas became readily available again, they chose not to switch back.

The name “Twinkie” was also thought up by James Dewar. On the way to a marketing meeting, he saw a billboard advertising “Twinkle-Toes Shoes”, and thought up the name “Twinkies”.

When Twinkies first came out, they not only were banana filled, but they also had an incredibly low shelf life. This was due primarily to the dairy products contained in Twinkies giving them only a two day shelf life on average. This obviously cut into the profit margins.

With the need for longer shelf life, they started substituting ingredients in the original recipe with artificial ingredients. Among those are cellulose gum, which gives Twinkie cream its smooth feel. Another place you can find this cellulose gum is in rocket fuel.

But that’s not the only fuel based ingredient in a Twinkie. The chemicals that make up the artificial butter flavor are themselves derived from petroleum.

Another interesting ingredient is corn dextrin. This gives Twinkies their sticky crust. Another place you can find this wonderful ingredient is in various glues; for instance, the glue that you find on the back of envelopes.

Interestingly though, of the 39 ingredients that make up a Twinkie, only one of them is strictly a preservative or rather its only purpose in being included is because it’s a preservative. Some of the other chemicals have preserving side effects, but their use is primarily as substitutes for the dairy ingredients. The lack of these dairy ingredients and the air tight plastic wrap are the primary reason that the Twinkie can last the 25 days on the shelves and can out last so many of its other baked brethren in that respect.

Despite their slightly unhealthy nature (150 calories each; with quite a dose of fat included), Hostess now churns out more than 1000 Twinkies per minute or about 500 million per year. The cakes are each baked for 12 minutes; injected with cream; flipped over so the round bottom is now the top; then packaged for shipping.

Bonus fun fact: According to Hostess, it takes about 45 seconds to explode a Twinkie in a standard powered microwave. Try this at home kids… Seriously, anybody want to try this and report back on the results?

They were also more likely to undertake voluntary work and keener to attend university, experts discovered.

The research, conducted in the United States, is likely to anger children’s rights campaigners who have unsuccessfully fought to ban smacking in Britain.

Currently, parents are allowed by law to mete out “reasonable chastisement” on their children, providing smacking does not leave a mark or bruise. These limits were clarified in the 2004 Children’s Act.

But children’s groups and MPs have argued that spanking is an outdated form of punishment that can cause long-term mental health problems.

Marjorie Gunnoe, professor of psychology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said her study showed there was insufficient evidence to deny parents the freedom to determine how their children should be punished.

She said: “The claims made for not spanking children fail to hold up. They are not consistent with the data.

“I think of spanking as a dangerous tool, but there are times when there is a job big enough for a dangerous tool. You just don’t use it for all your jobs.”

The research questioned 179 teenagers about how often they were smacked as children and how old they were when they were last spanked.

Their answers were then compared with information they gave about their behaviour that could have been affected by smacking. This included negative effects such as anti-social behaviour, early sexual activity, violence and depression, as well as positives such as academic success and ambitions.

Those who had been smacked up to the age of six performed better in almost all the positive categories and no worse in the negatives than those never punished physically.

Teenagers who had been hit by their parents from age seven to 11 were also found to be more successful at school than those not smacked but fared less well on some negative measures, such as getting involved in more fights.

However, youngsters who claimed they were still being smacked scored worse than every other group across all the categories.

Prof Gunnoe found little difference in the results between sexes and different racial groups.

The findings were rejected by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which has fought to ban smacking.

A spokesman for the charity said: “The NSPCC believes that children should have the same legal protection from assault as adults do.

“Other research has shown that smacking young children affects their behaviour and mental development, and makes them more likely to be anti-social.”

However, Parents Outloud, the pressure group, welcomed the research, saying parents should not be criminalised for mild smacking.

Its spokeswoman, Margaret Morrissey, said: “It is very difficult to explain verbally to a young child why something they have done is wrong.

“A light tap is often the most effective way of teaching them not to do something that is dangerous or hurtful to other people – it is a preventive measure.

“While anything more than a light tap is definitely wrong, parents should be allowed the freedom to discipline their children without the fear that they will be reported to police.”

Aric Sigman, a psychologist and author of The Spoilt Generation: Why Restoring Authority will Make our Children and Society Happier, told the Sunday Times: “The idea that smacking and violence are on a continuum is a bizarre and fetishised view of what punishment or smacking is for most parents.

“If it’s done judiciously by a parent who is normally affectionate and sensitive to their child, our society should not be up in arms about that. Parents should be trusted to distinguish this from a punch in the face.”

Previous studies have suggested that smacking children can lead them to develop behavioural problems such as being more aggressive.

Source

Men were typically five per cent more competent at parallel parking – where the car draws alongside anther vehicle before reversing into a bay – according to research.

They were also better at driving head-on into a space and then reversing into place.

During the tests, in which volunteers were asked to repeatedly park a saloon car, psychologists found women didn’t benefit from the extra 20 seconds they took to complete the manoeuvres on average.

In fact, they tended to end up much closer to the edge of the bays than the male drivers, despite showing far more caution.

The scientists from Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, concluded men benefit from superior co-ordination and spatial awareness because their brains can process the changing position and speed of a car quicker than women’s.

The study’s co-author, Dr Claudia Wolf, a PhD student at the university’s Department of Biopsychology, said she became interested in the subject because of the number of chauvinistic comments she encountered about women drivers.

‘These prejudices exist and, as a scientist, I decided to find out if they are true or based on myth,’ she said.

‘I don’t think feminism or the cause of women is in any way set back by these findings. It only proves what
previous studies about the spatial differences between men and women have shown.

‘Besides, it is not as if there was a massive failing by women. It is just about parking – not the triumph of men over women.’

Sometimes though, we become so enamored with our own burdens that we lose sight of hope. Perhaps the following stories of brave, albeit unfortunate souls will help relieve these burdens by reminding us that things could always be far worse.

CHINA

The Horny Grandma

Granny Zhao — as she is formerly known — is an elderly lady from Zhanjiang who sports her own horn. According to her family, the horn appeared approximately 3 years ago as just a tiny mole; but unlike a mole, it never stopped growing.

It now juts out from the middle of her forehead, which in turn has affected her vision: “It causes me no discomfort, but blocks part of my view.”

The Over-Sized Fingers

Meet Liu Hau from Jiangsu. Since birth, Hau’s left hand has been plagued with a ridiculously over-sized thumb, index finger, and middle finger. This condition is formerly known as macrodactyly, and is a form of local gigantism.

Hau underwent surgery at a Shanghai hospital in late 2007, during which approximately 5.1kg of flesh & bone were removed.

The Tree-Trunk Leg

Chen Zongtao has never once performed a squat; yet, his body houses a leg that weighs over 150 pounds just by itself. The growth originally began on Chen’s right foot when he was just a child, but soon spread to his entire right leg. Years later and the colossal leg has left Chen unable to get up, let alone just walk through his own home.

Doctors say that he suffers from neurofibroma, a nerve-based tumor that is typically benign. It is not known for certain whether he ever received treatment for his condition.

The Chinese Elephant Man

Pictured above is Huang Chuncais, better known as the ‘Chinese Elephant Man.’ He suffers from a form of elephantiasis that has over the years morphed into a giant 15kg tumor so heavy that it pulls his facial skin downward.

After a long and troubling life that has made it difficult for Huang to just sip on some soup, he was finally offered free assistance from the doctors at the Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou.

Below is a picture of Huang taken in January 2008 after his second surgery.

INDIA

The Man With A Twin

One might suspect that Nagpur resident Sanju Bhagat is a serious alcoholic with an enormous beer belly; but that, I assure you, is far from the truth. Throughout his life, the 36-year-old farmer just figured he was the victim of a tumor.

During an evening in June 1999, however, doctors attempting to remove the bulge discovered that Sanju’s stomach contained the dead body of his barely developed twin brother instead.

The Human Octopus

The bundle of joy pictured above lying by her Mother is Lakshmi Tatma, a charming young damsel who was born with 4 legs and 4 arms. The condition came about when her ‘parasistic twin’ stopped developing in her mother’s womb. Lakshmi’s body absorbed the remaining limbs, resulting in her being born a human octupus, per se.

Many in India were shocked to the core by her birth, as they believed her to be the reincarnation of the eight-limbed Hindu God Lakshmi. After two years, she finally received surgery for her condition, and now lives her life as a normal child.

INDONESIA

The Tree Man

The Indonesian Tree Man known as Dede suffers from a combination of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and a genetic disorder. The result has been a nonstop growth of bark-like warts that have gradually been taking over his body.

Despite being constantly taunted, losing his job, and having his wife desert him, Dede has continued on as the proud father of two children. This dedicated Papa was finally rewarded for his perseverance by an American doctor who promised a cure.

VIETNAM

The Gigantic Face

Little Lai Ti Dao is a petite girl who suffered from a Schwannoma tumor, which initially began as a mere lump in her throat, but then blew up into an over-sized tumor that threatened to kill her.

Not only was it so large that Lai could barely walk, but it was gradually cutting off her airway as well. Thankfully, she was flown out to Miami in 2008 and finally, after a 10-hour surgery, freed of 10 pound tumor.

The Conehead

Nguyen Xuan Minh was only 5 years old when the picture above was taken at the Tu Du Hospital in 2005. His unknown condition features an elongated head with bulging eyes, but has doctors baffled as to why.

Most people believe that Nguyen is likely an unfortunate victim of the defoliant Agent Orange, which was used by American forces during the Vietnam war.

Due to his parents’ exposure to the chemical, Nguyen was born deformed and will likely live the rest of his life as such.

The Stunted Fingers

Le Thi Hoa is yet another young soul deformed from exposure to Agent Orange. She was born with stunted fingers; that, however, has not stopped her from writing with ‘excellent penmanship.’

Sadly, both Le and Nguyen are two out of hundreds of thousands of victims who must deal with the long-lasting effects of Agent Orange. For more details, please view the video below.

1. Crohn’s disease
The inflammatory digestive disease could just have easily ended up with the name Ginzburg’s disease or Oppenheimer’s disease. In 1932, three New York physicians named Burrill Bernard Crohn, Leon Ginzburg, and Gordon Oppenheimer published a paper describing a new sort of intestinal inflammation. Since Crohn’s name was listed first alphabetically, the condition ended up bearing his name.

2. Salmonellosis
Yes, the salmonella menace that haunts undercooked chicken is named after a person. Daniel Elmer Salmon was a veterinary pathologist who ran a USDA microorganism research program during the late 19th century. Although Salmon didn’t actually discover the type of bacterium that now bears his name—famed epidemiologist Theobald Smith isolated the bacteria in 1885—he ran the research program in which the discovery occurred. Smith and his colleagues named the bacteria salmonella in honor of their boss.

3. Parkinson’s disease
James Parkinson was a busy fellow. While the English apothecary had a booming medical business, he also dabbled in geology, paleontology, and politics; Parkinson even published a three-volume scientific study of fossils. Following a late-18th-century foray into British politics where he advocated a number of social causes and found himself briefly ensnared in an alleged plot to assassinate King George III, Parkinson turned his attention to medicine. Parkinson did some research on gout and peritonitis, but it was his landmark 1817 study “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy” that affixed his name to Parkinson’s disease.

4. Huntington’s disease
George Huntington wasn’t the most prolific researcher, but he made his papers count. In 1872, a fresh-out-of-med-school Huntington published one of two research papers he would write in his life. In the paper, Huntington described the effects of the neurodegenerative disorder that now bears his name after examining several generations of family that all suffered from the genetic condition.

5. Alzheimer’s disease
In 1901, German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer began observing an odd patient at a Frankfurt asylum. The 51-year-old woman, Mrs. Auguste Deter, had no short-term memory and behaved strangely. When Mrs. Deter died in 1906, Alzheimer began to dissect the patient’s brain, and he presented his findings that November in what was the first formal description of presenile dementia.

6. Tourette syndrome
Credit George Gilles de la Tourette for his modesty. When the French neurologist first described the illness that now bears his name in 1884, he didn’t name it after himself. Instead, he referred to the condition as “maladie des tics.” Tourette’s mentor and contemporary Jean-Martin Charcot renamed the illness after Tourette.
Tourette didn’t have such great luck with patients, though. In 1893, a deluded former patient shot the doctor in the head. The woman claimed that she lost her sanity after Tourette hypnotized her. Tourette survived the attack.

7. Hodgkin’s lymphoma
British pathologist Thomas Hodgkin first described the cancer that now bears his name while working at Guy’s Hospital in London in 1832. Hodgkin published the study “On Some Morbid Appearances of the Absorbent Glands and Spleen” that year, but the condition didn’t bear his name until a fellow physician, Samuel Wilks, rediscovered Hodgkin’s work.

8. Bright’s disease
The kidney disease bears the name of Richard Bright, an English physician and colleague of Hodgkin’s at Guy’s Hospital. Bright began looking into the causes of kidney trouble during the 1820s, and in 1827 he described an array of kidney ailments that eventually became known as Bright’s disease. Today, doctors understand many of the symptoms historically clumped together as Bright’s disease are in fact different maladies, so the term is rarely used.

9. Addison’s disease
Guy’s Hospital was apparently the place to work in the 19th century if you wanted to have a disease named after you. Thomas Addison, a colleague of Bright and Hodgkin at Guy’s Hospital, first described the adrenal disorder we call Addison’s disease in 1855. On top of this discovery, Addison also published an early study of appendicitis.

10. Tay-Sachs disease
Although both of their names are attached to this genetic disorder, Warren Tay and Bernard Sachs didn’t work together. In fact, they didn’t even work in the same country. Tay, a British opthalmologist, first described the disease’s characteristic red spot on the retina in 1881. In 1887 Bernard Sachs, a colleague of Burrill Crohn at Mount Sinai Hospital, described the cellular effects of the disease and its prevalence among Ashkenazi Jews.

11. Turner syndrome
The chromosomal disorder got its name from Oklahoma doctor Henry Turner, who first described the condition in 1938.

12. Klinefelter’s syndrome
The genetic condition in which males have an extra X chromosome bears the name of Harry Klinefelter, a young Boston endocrinologist who published a landmark study while working under the tutelage of endocrinology star Dr. Fuller Albright in 1942. Albright pushed his young protégé to be the lead author of the paper that described the condition, so the young Klinefelter’s name is forever associated with the syndrome.

13. Asperger’s syndrome
Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger first described the syndrome that now bears his name in 1944 after observing a group of over 400 children who suffered from what Asperger described as “autistic psychopathy.” Interestingly, since Asperger’s research was all written in German, his contributions to the literature went unrecognized until much later. The term “Asperger’s syndrome” didn’t come into widespread usage until 1981.

1. How the Slinky got stuck between a cult and a mid-life crisis

In 1943, naval engineer Richard James invented the Slinky. When a spring fell off of his workbench and began to “walk” across the floor, he figured he could make a toy out of it. His wife Betty agreed, and she came up with the name Slinky. Introduced in 1945, Slinky sales soared (say that three times fast), but that wasn’t enough to satisfy Richard James.

By 1960, despite his success, Richard James was suffering from a serious mid-life crisis. But instead of falling for fast cars, dyed hair and liposuction, Richard James went a different route, and became involved with a Bolivian religious cult. He gave generously to the religious order and left his wife, six children and the company to move to Bolivia.

Stuck with the debts left by her husband and a company that desperately needed her leadership, Betty James took over as the head of James Industries. A marketing savant, Betty James was responsible for additions to the Slinky line including Slinky Jr., Plastic Slinky, Slinky Dog, Slinky Pets, Crazy Slinky Eyes and Neon Slinky. It was great for boys and girls around the world that Betty James didn’t suffer a midlife crisis. In 2001, she was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, and perhaps even more laudably, her Slinky dog was forever immortalized in Disney’s Toy Story movies.

2. Why Lincoln Logs are the most deceptively named toys in the business

Standing beside his father (Frank Lloyd Wright) and watching the construction of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, John Lloyd Wright was inspired. Interlocking beams in the hotel’s basement were designed to handle the little “earthquake problem” that the hotel could encounter. John Lloyd thought, “What if children had a toy version of those beams, shaped like notched tree trunks to build little log homes?”

The architect’s son followed through on his inspiration and the John Lloyd Wright Company manufactured and sold Lincoln Logs from the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The sets even came with instructions on how to build Uncle Tom’s Cabin as well as Abe Lincoln’s log cabin. The Lincoln Log construction and figure sets came in two sizes available for $2 or $3 dollars.

But here’s the strangest part: the naming of the toy wasn’t a tribute to Honest Abe. It’s a homage to his father. Here’s the scoop: Frank Lloyd Wright was born Frank Lincoln Wright, but he legally changed his name when his parents split. So, Lloyd Jones was his mother’s maiden name and Frank’s name change was to honor her. In any case, whichever Lincoln the toy was honoring, we’re pretty sure Honest Abe would have gotten a kick out of the little logs.

3. Captain Kangaroo saved Play-Doh

Back before it was Play-Doh, everyone’s favorite squishy clay was actually a wallpaper cleaner used to clean soot off of walls. But when people switched from using coal burning furnaces to oil fueled ones in the ‘40s and ‘50s, demand for the product evaporated. Kutol, a manufacturing company in Cincinnati, was watching their sales dwindle when the son of the company’s founder, Joe McVicker, started looking for ways to turn the business round.

His sister-in-law Kay Zufall suggested using the wallpaper cleaner as a child’s craft item, and McVicker was willing to try anything. He formed a new division, Rainbow Crafts, and began selling the re-branded product as Play-Doh. Sales were okay, but then McVicker came up with a way to sell a whole lot more. He contacted Captain Kangaroo (A.K.A. Bob Keeshan) and offered him 2% of sales if the good Captain would feature Play-Doh on his show. He did. Ding Dong School and Romper Room soon followed suit, hawking the crafty compound to kiddies everywhere and Kutol made plenty of Doh (er, Dough) in the process.

While the company has changed hands a few times since (Rainbow Crafts was purchased by Kenner Toys and Kenner was purchased by Hasbro), that’s hardly impeded sales. More than two billion cans of Play-Doh have been sold since 1955.

4. Etch-a-Sketch used to be played like an Atari

Believe it or not, the original Etch-A-Sketch was operated with a joystick. The invention was the brainchild of Andre Cassagnes, a French electrician tinkering in his garage. Conceived in 1950, the drawing toy made use of a joystick, glass and aluminum powder. Dubbed the Telecran, the toy was renamed L’Ecran Magique, and made its debut at a European Toy Fair in 1959. Fascinated by the invention, American Henry Winzeler, founder and president of the Ohio Art Toy Company, licensed L’Ecran Magique and introduced it to America in 1960.

Amongst Winzeler’s innovations were replacing the joystick with two white knobs in the left and right corners of the screen. The idea was to make the toy look like the hot new adult toy…television.

As for how the knobs work, the two Etch-A-Sketch handles control a stylus that’s attached to strings. The stylus is designed to move up and down and left and right “etching” an image in the Aluminum powder that clings to the glass with static electricity. Amazingly, clever Etch-A-Sketch artists can maneuver the stylus to make what looks like curves and angles creating some spectacular pictures. In fact, the Ohio Art Etch-A-Sketch Gallery actually contains a “Hall of Fame.”

5. Why Trivial Pursuit almost never happened

In 1979, Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott (along with business partners Ed Werner and John Haney) decided to create a game that combined their love of all things trivia and their basic competitive nature. Their company, Horn-Abbott, funded the initial production run of 1,000 pieces and sold them to retailers for $15.00 in 1981. At the time, $15.00 was by far the most expensive wholesale price for a board game. But that was a downright bargain when you consider the first pieces cost $75.00 each to manufacture. To the retailer’s surprise the game was a hit even at the heady price of $30.00 at retail.

Realizing that they lacked the funding to bring the game to its full potential, Horn-Abbott licensed Trivial Pursuit to Canadian game manufacturer Chieftain Products. Chieftain had a major hit in Canada in 1981 and contacted their American partner, Selchow and Righter. Amazingly, Selchow and Righter analyzed the game and found that it was: a) too expensive to manufacture, b) it took over an hour to play, c) the best players had to have impressive knowledge of trivial subjects and d) they assumed adults didn’t play board games. Selchow and Righter passed, but Chieftain was persistent and in 1982 the game was introduced to America at the New York Toy Fair.

Initial sales were worrisome. However, through a solid PR campaign and great word of mouth, sales skyrocketed. Sales peaked in 1984 at 20,000,000 games in North America alone. It was the best of times and the worst of times for Selchow and Righter because in 1986, facing huge debt brought on by an abundance of inventory, Selchow and Righter was sold to Coleco. In 1989, Coleco filed for bankruptcy and the rights to Trivial Pursuit were acquired by Parker Brothers. Today Chris Haney and Scott Abbott’s little game has been made into over 30 “Editions.” It’s available in 26 countries, been translated into 17 different languages and has sold approximately 100,000,000 copies since its inception. Not bad for a game that almost wasn’t.

6. Why the guy behind the Erector Set Saved Christmas

Because of the market pressures of World War I, the United States Council of National Defense was considering a ban on toy manufacturing. Amazingly, one man’s impassioned speech successfully stopped that from happening.

Alfred Carlton Gilbert was known as “Man Who Saved Christmas.” (There’s even a movie starring Jason Alexander in the title role.) But Gilbert was more than just a gifted orator, he was truly a renaissance man. He was an amateur magician, a trained doctor, an Olympic Gold Medallist (in the pole vault), a famous toy inventor and Co-Founder of the Toy Manufacturers of America. Most famously, however, he was the man behind the Erector Set.

Introduced in 1913 with the catchy name The Mysto Erector Structural Steel Builder, the toy was based on Gilbert’s observation of how power line towers were constructed. The quickly retitled Erector Sets sold well and were limited only by a child’s imagination as to what could be built.

But “The Man Who Saved Christmas” (who also held over 150 patents) wasn’t a one-trick pony. His other inventions included model trains, glass blowing kits (think about the liability today!), chemistry sets (one chemistry set was even designed specifically for girls) and in 1951 (during the cold war) he even introduced a miniature Atomic Energy Lab with three very low-level radioactive sources and a real working Geiger counter. Now there’s a toy even a real patriot could love.

7. How Mr. Potato Head became a political activist

Two very special things about Mr. Potato Head: 1) he was the first toy to be advertised on television, and 2) he was the first toy that featured real produce. That’s right the original toy came as a collection of eyes, ears, noses, a body and accessories that you’d “force” into a real potato. To be fair to Hasbro, Mr. Potato Head’s creator, did include a styrofoam “potato” but it wasn’t much fun.

In 1964 a molded plastic potato body became part of the toy. But back then, Mr. Potato Head also had friends including Carrots, Cucumbers, Oranges, Peppers and a love interest, Mrs. Potato Head. With Brother Spud and Sister Yam there was an entire Potato Head family, and all of the packaging carried the slogan “Lifelike Fruits Or Vegetables To Change Into Funny, Lovable Friends.”

What’s most amazing, however, is that Mr. Potato Head’s appeal has garnered him many “spokespud” gigs.

In the American Cancer Society’s annual “Great American Smokeout” campaign he handed his pipe to then Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and swore off the tobacco, he got up off the couch for the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, and he even pitched in with the League of Women Voters for their “Get Out the Vote” initiative.

Of course, he’s been involved in plenty of straight marketing campaigns, too: in 1997, he shilled for Burger King’s “Try the Fry” introduction of their new French fries.