| 2A can of...Well, nobody's really sure what Play-Doh is | | | | smock and a beret. Later on the beret was replaced |
| as its composition is a very closely guarded secret. | | | | by a backwards baseball cap. The mascot was put |
| As a matter of fact, Play-Doh was originally invented | | | | on every single can of Play-Doh that was sold and |
| to be a wallpaper cleaner and even has a patent for | | | | became as well known as the toy itself. |
| this use. The patent number is U.S. Patent 3,167,440. | | | | Also in 1960 the first Play-Doh accessory was |
| It was granted to Noah McVicker and Joseph | | | | created. This was the extremely popular Play-Doh |
| McVicker. Ultimately, these two men realized that | | | | Fun Factory. The Fun Factory was basically a device |
| they could make more money selling this stuff as a | | | | that you pushed the Play-Doh through to make all |
| toy than as a wallpaper cleaner. So in 1956 they | | | | kinds of different shapes such as stars, circles and |
| created Rainbow Crafts to sell their new product. | | | | squares. You could chop up these shapes and serve |
| The thing that most people liked about Play-Doh was | | | | them as food to the kid's dolls. But the Fun Factory |
| that it was non toxic. You could actually eat this stuff | | | | wasn't the end of the Play-Doh accessories. |
| and not get sick. The salty taste may not be very | | | | Play-Doh next came out with the Fuzzy Pumper |
| appealing but it was certainly not going to kill you. | | | | Barber and Beauty Shop. After that they came out |
| And believe it or not, kids did try to eat this stuff. | | | | with Dr, Drill N Fill. These were all plastic molds. The |
| Drove their parents absolutely up a wall. | | | | barber shop was rather unique for its time. The |
| Play-Doh was one of the first toys to make its way | | | | Play-Doh was pushed through this plastic head that |
| into schools and daycare centers. It was a simple | | | | made it look like hair. You then took these plastic |
| enough toy that kids could play with and not need a | | | | scissors to cut the hair and style it. Very clever stuff |
| lot of supervision and was versatile enough that you | | | | for the 60s. |
| were limited only by your imagination as to what you | | | | Eventually, Play-Doh was taken over by Hasbro and |
| could actually do with the stuff, which basically came | | | | they came out with a ton of food preparation |
| in can and in a variety of colors. Since all the colors | | | | machines as that was where things seemed to be |
| were still made of the same substance, you could | | | | going at the time. Everybody wanted to cook. |
| mix them together with no problem. Of course after | | | | Around this time you also saw things like Suzy Bake |
| doing this it was hard to get each color back into its | | | | Oven and Creepy Crawlers food molds. |
| own can. | | | | But with all the fancy accessories, most kids are just |
| The year 1960 was a very big year for Play-Doh | | | | happy to take the stuff out of the can and run their |
| because this was the year that the company came | | | | hands through it. |
| up with its first mascot, Play-Doh Pete. The original | | | | Sometimes, simple is the best. |
| drawing of this cute little boy had him wearing a | | | | |
