In this 2001 file photo, Betty James, retired presi-dent of James Industries, plays with a toy Slinky that made the family company famous in Hollidaysburg, Pa. James, who co-founded the company that made the Slinky and beat the odds as a single mother in the late 1950s to become a successful executive, has died Nov. 20, 2008. She was 90.

在這張2001年的檔案照中，貝蒂．詹姆斯這位當時已退休的「詹姆斯工業公司」總裁，手中正把玩著使他們位於賓州好樂迪斯堡的公司遠近馳名的跳跳彈簧圈玩具。貝蒂．詹姆斯共同創辦公司不只生產跳跳彈簧圈，她並在1950年底克服萬難，以單親媽媽的身分成為成功的主管，她今年11月20日死亡，享年90歲。

In 1945, James and her husband at the time, Richard, founded the company that would later make Slinky, the toy for which she was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2001. The coil-shaped toy which could go down stairs by walking end-over-end became a hit with children. She took over management of James Industries Inc. 14 years after the company was founded, after her husband left her to follow a religious cult in Bolivia. Richard James died in 1974.

1945年，詹姆斯和她當時的丈夫理查創辦了公司，日後製造的跳跳彈簧圈，使她在2001年被納入玩具界名人堂。這個盤繞成一圈圈的玩具可以來回翻滾下樓，同時立刻成為兒童最夯的玩具。公司創辦後14年，丈夫離開她遠走玻利維亞去加入一個教派，她決定接管「詹姆斯工業公司」。理查‧詹姆斯死於1974年。

Initially, James would leave her six children with a caregiver from Sunday through Thursday while she oversaw operations in Philadelphia. But in 1965, she moved the company to her hometown of Hollidays-burg, where although it was sold in 1998 to Michi-gan-based POOF Products Inc., it remains today.

一開始，從周日到周四當詹姆斯到費城監管公司作業時，就託人照顧6個孩子。但1965年，她決定把公司搬遷到她老家好樂迪斯堡，雖然公司在1998年賣給密西根州的POOF產品公司，但至今還在。

''She was an icon in the community because of that business,'' Blair County Commissioner Diane Meling said. ''What kid didn't grow up with a Slinky'' Hun-dreds of millions of Slinkys have been sold world-wide. ''I think really it's the simplicity of it,'' she said. ''There's nothing to wind up; it doesn't take batteries. I think also the price helps. More children can play with it than a $40 or $60 toy.''

「由於這個事業，她成為當地偶像，」布萊爾郡郡長黛安‧梅林說。「有那個孩子在成長過程中沒有玩過跳跳彈簧圈？」全世界總共賣出數以億計個彈簧圈。「我想它主要是以簡單取勝，」她說。「既不必上發條，又不用電池，價格也很公道。比起一個要價40到60美元的玩具，跳跳彈簧圈可以和更多孩子一起玩。」