Did you know that Play-Dough, the fun and crafty children’s toy designed to mold whatever the imagination can create, was actually first intended to be wallpaper cleaner? Like many great inventions over the years, the discovery of the salty substance that ended up a huge hit with tiny tots was a complete accident!

Play-Dough was invented by Kutol Products, a Cincinnati soap company. It was created as a compound to clean soot off of wallpaper. By the time the ‘50s rolled around, people began switching from coal heating to gas or oil, and newer wallpapers were beginning to be manufactured with an easy-to-clean vinyl. This was the end to Play-Dough as a cleaning agent but it was a fresh start to begin using the mold for another purpose.

Soon after the need for Play-Dough as a cleaning product vanished, Joseph McVicker, after talking with a grade school teacher, began to notice that young children had trouble molding objects from clay. As an experiment, he sent a few cans of the non-toxic wallpaper cleaner to the school and soon found it was a huge hit among the kiddies.

In 1956, Joseph teamed up with his uncle, Noah McVicker and the two soon established the Rainbow Crafts Company in order to sell this substance they called, “Play-Dough.” They were given the patent in 1965 and have since created many different colors and molding gadgets to be sold along with the clay-like concoction. To further Play-Dough’s reputable name, September 18^th has been designated as national Play-Dough Day.