Wednesday 3 May 2006

The 50 Year History of Play-Doh


May 2006 marks 50 years of messy and colorful fun
50 years ago U.S. Patent No. 3,167,440 was granted to Noah McVicker and Joseph McVicker for a “plastic modeling composition”, (which was originally intended to be a wallpaper cleaner) now called Play-Doh. Little did they know that they had created the substance of childhood memories as well as many a childhood meal, unfortunately.
Play-Doh persists as one of the most well known and popular childrens “toys”. As you attempt to clean your children’s Play-Doh out of the carpet, the car, and the bathtub; take a look back with us at how it all got started.
Originally, Play-Doh came in only one color; off-white and came in a 1.5.lb cardboard can. Joe McVicker of Kutol Chemicals had learned from a teacher that modeling clay used by children in the classrooms was often too difficult for many of the smaller children to manipulate. He remembered that his non-toxic composition he had created as a wallpaper cleaner was easy to manipulate and could possibly work as a substitute for the typical modeling clay the schools were using.
He shipped a box of his cleaning composition to the school and it was a huge hit with both the teachers and the kids. He offered to supply all of the schools in the Cincinnati area with this new material, and after great reactions from those schools as well, his product was showcased at a national education convention.

For more -> http://www.failedsuccess.com/index.php?/weblog/comments/playdoh_history/