I remember playing with Play-Doh and I'm sure you do too, in fact I think it's pretty safe to say that every one has played with Play-Doh at some point in their lives but have you ever wondered where it came from or who came up with the idea? Well, I think you might be surprised to learn - I know I was - that this modeling compound we and our children have had so much fun with over the years actually started out as cleaner for wallpaper.
During the 1930's coal was used as the primary heating source in most homes, unfortunately one down side was the residue it left on the wallpaper. This was when Kroger Grocery made a request of Kutol Products - a soap manufacture based in Cincinnai - to come up with a solution, Noah McVicker developed a pliable, putty-like substance that could be used to safely clean the wallpaper.
Unfortunately the market for wallpaper cleaning putty decreased substantially after World War II when most coal-based homes transitioned to natural gas and washable vinyl-based wallpaper was introduced. All was not lost for the company however, Joe McVicker's - nephew to Noah McVicker - sister-in-law Kay Zufall - a nursery school teacher - needed something for her young students to use to make Christmas decorations so she bought some of the wallpaper cleaner and discovered that not only did it work for modeling but the children had a blast playing with it.
In 1956 the Rainbow Crafts Company was formed by the McVickers to make and sell Play-Doh this was also when the three pack of 7 ounce cans - which I think is what most of us remember playing with - came out. Macy's and Marshal Field's began selling the product after in store demonstrations and TV ads began appearing on children's shows of the time such as Captain Kangaroo - my favorite - Ding Dong School and Romper Room.
The company has gone through many changes and owners over the years but in 1991 Hasbro became Play-Doh's owner and continues to manufacture the product today through its preschool division, they added gold and silver colors in 1996 to celebrate the products 40th anniversary.
As with anything the ownership of the company is not all that's changed over the years, one big change are the array of colors now available. Back when I played with this great product there were three colors red, blue and yellow, today virtually every color of the rainbow is available. Can you imagine that at one time only a three can pack was being sold, now you can buy it by the case.
No matter how many colors or play sets come out after almost sixty plus years I think it's safe to say that Play-Doh has been one invention that has certainly stood the test of time and will continue to spark kids - and maybe even some grown-ups - imagination for a long time to come.
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