The Secret Origins Of Play-Doh

January 9, 2015 in Daily Bulletin

Play-Doh was originally meant for a very different purpose, according to Daven Hiskey:

  • In 1933 people used coal to heat their homes which generated a lot of soot that clung to the walls.
  • Play-Doh was invented to remove the soot. It could be rolled against the walls to pick up the grime.
  • Coal started to be replaced by oil and gas, and vinyl wallpapers that could be cleaned with water and soap became more popular causing sales of Play-Doh to crash.
  • After removing the cleaning agents and adding some scents the material was repurposed into a toy.
  • Moreover, while as wallpaper cleaner it sold for $0.34 a can, as a toy they could sell the same amount for $1.50.
  • The makers soon had close to ten years’ worth of orders to fill.

Read more about Play-Doh’s history, how the person who came up with the name, and the idea to use it as a children’s toy, was given no credit, and how Captain Kangaroo helped make it a hit over here.

Source: Today I Found Out

Via: Huffington Post