50 Years Ago Today
Today is a special day. 50 years ago the government issued U.S. Patent No. 3,167,440 to Noah McVicker and Joseph McVicker. Not familiar with their names? It seems that Joe was trying to make an invention to clean the glue off of wallpaper. It never worked particularly well at this.
Joe was talking to a teacher who was expressing frustration with trying to use modeling clay with her younger children. The two main problems were that it was too difficult to mold it and certain clays were mildly toxic if digested (a common occurrence with 5 year olds). He remembered his failed wallpaper cleaner substance. It was very moldable, and best of all, it was non-toxic.
Joe went back to his lab and brought over a box of the stuff for the teachers and children to play with. The “plastic modeling composition” was an enormous success. Joe and his brother Noah started their own company called Rainbow Crafts. Within six months, they were supplying their clay-replacement to all of the schools in the greater Cincinnati area. It wasn’t long after that, that production reached national levels.
Originally only sold in off-white. Play Doh™ has come a long way. I bought my daughter a Play Doh™ set that had 32 different colors. The formula has improved (aka changed) to allow it to be softer and not dry out so quickly, but it is essentially the same stuff that Joe and Noah distributed 50 years ago.
The salty smell when opening the can is still recognizable to us today. Watching my oldest child playing with it, reminds me of being a kid and the ever fascination I had with this strange substance. Also, having a kid of my own, I now understand some of my mom’s frustration with cleaning the stuff too! All in all, it is a pretty great invention.
Here’s wishing you a Happy Birthday Play Doh™ and thanks for the hours of fun you have given me, and now my daughter.
What are some of your memories of this wonderfully strange goo?
-Doug
posted by DougALug at 9:24 AM
4 Comments:
I think it's most likely still running thru my digestive track from all the little Play Doh hamburgers we "cooked" and I ate when I was a kid.
Mostly though, I just loved to squeeze the stuff and feel it oozing through my fingers. I love that feeling. Call me crazy.
Rich,
I think the hamburger thing must be some kind of male right-of-passage.
We did the same thing. It makes me gag a little just thinking about it.
-Doug
I never ate it, I've tasted it. Not actually eaten it. I so love it and still play with it. Happy Play Doh Day!
Oh dear ... the only time I actually played with Play Doh was 3-4 years ago, when my son got a set from a friend and then more during Christmas. As a mom, I hated it because of the cleanup.
When I was a kid, we played with something called plastercine - it was fun, no mess but the only problem is that it makes our fingers stink! But just the plastercine stuff without the moulds or the press.
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