The Creation of Play-Doh

65 years ago on the 16th September 1956, the child's modelling toy Play-Doh first went on sale in the USA. 

However in the 1930's, it was originally marketed as a wallpaper cleaning substance, but was relaunched as a modelling compound when the inventor’s nephew discovered that nursery school children were using it to make Christmas ornaments.

Originally concocted as a pliable, putty-like sunstance by Noah McVicker of the Cincinnati-based soap manufacturer Kutol Products, it was devised as a product which would clean coal residue from wallpaper. But as coal-based home heating made way for natural gas in the 40s and 50s, it resulted in a decrease in the amount of internal soot produced and the market for the putty decreased substantially.

McVicker's nephew Joe McVicker, who joined Kutol in a remit to save the company from going bust, was the brother-in-law of nursery school teacher Kay Zufall. She had seen a newspaper article which described the making of art projects using the putty and had tried it out on her students who enjoyed using it. She persuaded the McVickers to manufacture it as a child's toy and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Kay Zufall

It was Ms Zufall and her husband who came up with the name Play-Doh; the McVickers had wanted to call it Rainbow Modelling Compound.