Fall Asleep While Learning About Classic Children's Toys

In this episode of the I Can’t Sleep Podcast, drift off while learning about Play-Doh, Silly Putty, and Slinkies. Did you know Play-Doh was originally invented to clean coal residue from wallpaper? It’s fascinating how these products often start as solutions for adult problems, only to later become beloved children’s toys. What sparked these transformations? Learning about it is just plain fun! I hope you discover some interesting tidbits before falling asleep to the story of these iconic toys. Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster.

And today's episode is a collection of three Wikipedia articles.

The first is about Play-Doh,

The second,

Silly Putty,

And the third,

Slinkies.

Play-Doh is a modeling compound for young children to make arts and crafts projects.

The product was first manufactured in Cincinnati,

Ohio,

United States as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s.

Play-Doh was then reworked and marketed to Cincinnati schools in the mid-1950s.

It was demonstrated at an educational convention in 1956,

And prominent department stores opened retail accounts.

Advertisements promoting Play-Doh on influential children's television shows in 1957 furthered the product's sales.

Since its launch on the toy market in the mid-1950s,

Play-Doh has generated a considerable amount of ancillary merchandise,

Such as the Fun Factory.

The non-toxic,

Non-staining,

Reusable modeling compound that came to be known as Play-Doh was a pliable,

Putty-like substance concocted by Noah McVicker of Cincinnati-based soap manufacturer Kudo Products.

It was devised at the request of Kroger Grocery,

Which wanted a product that could clean coal residue from wallpaper.

Following World War II,

With the transition from coal-based home heating to natural gas,

And the resulting decrease in internal soot,

And the introduction of washable vinyl-based wallpaper,

The market for wallpaper cleaning putty decreased substantially.

McVicker's nephew,

Joe McVicker,

Joined Kudo with the remit to save the company from bankruptcy.

Joe McVicker was the brother-in-law of nursery school teacher Kay Zuffel,

Who had seen a newspaper article about making art projects with the wallpaper cleaning putty.

Her students enjoyed it,

And she persuaded Noah McVicker,

Who also sold the putty,

And Joe McVicker,

To manufacture it as a child's toy.

Zuffel and her husband came up with the name Play-Doh.

Joe McVicker and his uncle Noah had wanted to call it Rainbow Modeling Compound.

Joe McVicker took Play-Doh to an educational convention for manufacturers of school supplies,

And Woodward and Lothrop,

A department store in Washington,

D.

C.

,

Began selling the compound.

In 1956,

The McVickers formed the Rainbow Crafts Company to make and sell Play-Doh.

Also,

In 1956,

A three-pack of seven-ounce cans was added to the product line,

And after in-store demonstrations,

Macy's of New York and Marshall Fields of Chicago opened retail accounts.

In 1957,

Chemist Dr.

Tian Liu reduced Play-Doh's salt content,

Thus allowing models to dry without losing their color.

And Play-Doh ads were telecast on Captain Kangaroo,

Ding Dong School,

And Romper Room.

In 1958,

Play-Doh's sales reached nearly $3 million.

In 1964,

Play-Doh was exported to Britain,

France,

And Italy.

By 1965,

Rainbow Crafts received a patent for Play-Doh.

Also in 1965,

General Mills bought Rainbow Crafts for $3 million.

In 1967,

General Mills bought Kenner Products.

In 1971,

Rainbow Crafts and Kenner merged,

And in 1987,

The Tonka Corporation bought the two.

In the 1980s,

Its cardboard can with a rust-prone metal bottom was replaced with a more cost-effective plastic container.

In 1991,

Hasbro became the owner of Play-Doh,

Putting the compound under its PlaySchool brand,

And continues to manufacture the product today.

In 1996,

Gold and silver were added to Play-Doh's palette to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

More than 2 billion cans of Play-Doh were sold between 1955 and 2005.

And in 2005,

Play-Doh was being sold in 75 countries at 95 million cans a year.

In the United States,

More than 6,

000 stores carry Play-Doh.

Play-Doh was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong in Rochester,

New York,

In 1998.

In 2003,

The Toy Industry Association placed Play-Doh into its Century of Toys list,

A roll call of the 100 most memorable and most creative toys of the 20th century.

To mark Play-Doh's 50th anniversary,

Demeter Fragrance Library created a limited edition fragrance inspired by Play-Doh's distinctive odor for highly creative people who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood.

In 2018,

Hasbro registered Play-Doh's signature scent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

It's described as a combination of a sweet,

Slightly musky vanilla-like fragrance with slight overtones of cherry and the natural smell of a salted wheat-based dough.

Play-Doh packaging was briefly illustrated with children in the mid-1950s,

But replaced by the Play-Doh Pixie,

An elf mascot which,

In 1960,

Was superseded by Play-Doh Pete,

A smock and a beret-wearing cartoonish boy.

By 1992,

Play-Doh Pete's beret was recolored in blue,

And his eyes were given a more human look.

Later in 2000,

Play-Doh Pete's beret was replaced with a baseball cap.

Play-Doh Pete later retired and was removed in 2003,

Lasting for 42 years.

Since 2012,

The Doh-Dohs are the mascots.

Play-Doh's current manufacturer,

Hasbro,

Says the compound is primarily a mixture of water,

Salt,

And flour.

While its 2004 United States patent indicates it is composed of water,

A starch-based binder,

A retrogradation inhibitor,

Salt,

Lubricant,

Surfactant,

Preservative,

Hardener,

Humectant,

Fragrance,

And color.

A petroleum additive gives the compound a smooth feel,

And borax prevents mold from developing.

Play-Doh contains weed and may cause allergic reactions in people who are allergic to wheat gluten.

It is not intended to be eaten.

In 1960,

The Play-Doh Fun Factory,

A toy press that extrudes a compound in various shapes,

Was invented by Bob Bogild and Bill Dale.

The Play-Doh Fuzzy Pumper Barber and Beauty Shop of 1977 and Mop Top Hair Shop of 1986 featured a figure whose extruded hair could be styled.

In 1995,

An educational software CD-ROM game,

Play-Doh Creations,

Was released.

In 2003,

The Play-Doh Creativity Table was sold.

Play-Doh-related merchandise introduced during the 2007 anniversary year included the Play-Doh Birthday Bucket,

The Play-Doh 50 Colors Pack,

The Fuzzy Pumper Crazy Cuts,

A reworking of the 1977 Fuzzy Pumper Barber and Beauty Shop,

And the Play-Doh Creative Center.

In 2012,

Play-Doh Plus was introduced.

It is lighter,

More pliable,

And softer than regular Play-Doh.

On April 2,

2015,

20th Century Fox announced work on a film adaptation with Hasbro Studios,

Along with its subsidiary company AllSpark Pictures and Chernin Entertainment Producing,

Jason McAuliffe Writing,

And Paul Feig Directing from his production company FeigCo.

The film was eventually cancelled and rejected after the acquisition of Fox's parent company,

21st Century Fox,

By the Walt Disney Company.

On March 17,

2022,

It was announced that a new animated film adaptation is in development at Entertainment One and its parent company Hasbro,

Emily V.

Gordon Writing and John M.

Chu Producing and possibly Directing.

A game show adaptation started streaming on Amazon Freebie,

Then known as IMDbTV,

Initially as a one-off holiday special on December 10,

2021,

And later as a full-length series on November 11,

2022.

It is hosted by Sarah Hyland.

Silly Putty is a toy containing silicon polymers that have unusual physical properties.

It can flow like a liquid,

Bounce,

And can be stretched or broken depending on the amount of physical stress to which it is subjected.

It contains viscoelastic liquid silicones,

A type of non-Newtonian fluid,

Which makes it act as a viscous liquid over a long period of time,

But as an elastic solid over a short time period.

It was originally created during research into a potentially rubber substance for use by the United States in World War II.

The name Silly Putty is a trademark of Crayola LLC.

Other names are used to market similar substances from other manufacturers.

As a bouncing putty,

Silly Putty is noted for its unusual characteristics.

It bounces when dropped from a height,

But breaks when struck or stretched sharply.

It can also float in a liquid,

And will form a puddle given enough time.

Silly Putty and most other retail putty products have viscoelastic agents added to reduce the flow and enable the putty to hold its shape.

Silly Putty's unusual flow characteristics are due to the ingredient PDMS,

A viscoelastic substance.

Viscoelasticity is a type of non-Newtonian flow,

Characterizing a material that acts as a viscous liquid over a long time period,

But as an elastic solid over a short time period.

Because its apparent viscosity increases directly with respect to the amount of force applied,

Silly Putty can be characterized as a dilatant fluid.

Silly Putty is also a fairly good adhesive.

When newspaper ink was petroleum-based,

Silly Putty could be used to transfer newspaper images to other surfaces,

Providing amusement by distorting the transferred image afterwards.

Newer papers with soy-based inks are more resistant to this process.

Generally,

Silly Putty is difficult to remove from textured items such as dirt and clothing.

Hand sanitizers containing alcohol are often helpful.

Silly Putty will dissolve when in contact with an alcohol.

After the alcohol evaporates,

The material will not exhibit its original properties.

If Silly Putty is submerged in warm or hot water,

It will become softer and thus melt much faster.

It also becomes harder to remove small amounts of it from surfaces.

After a long period of time,

It will return to its original viscosity.

Silly Putty is sold as a 13-gram piece of clay inside an egg-shaped plastic container.

The Silly Putty brand is owned by Crayola LLC,

Formerly the Binney & Smith Company.

As of July 2009,

20,

000 eggs of Silly Putty are sold daily.

Since 1950,

More than 300 million eggs of Silly Putty,

Approximately 4,

500 short tons or 4,

100 tons,

Have been sold.

It is available in various colors,

Including glow-in-the-dark and metallic.

Other brands offer similar materials,

Sometimes in larger size containers,

And in a similarly wide variety of colors or with different properties,

Such as magnetism and iridescence.

During World War II,

Japan invaded rubber-producing countries as it expanded its sphere of influence in the Pacific Rim.

Rubber was vital for the production of rafts,

Tires,

Vehicle and aircraft parts,

Gas masks and boots.

In the U.

S.

,

All rubber products were rationed.

Citizens were encouraged to make their rubber products last until the end of the war and to donate spare tires,

Boots and coats.

Meanwhile,

The government funded research into synthetic rubber compounds to attempt to solve this shortage.

Credit for the invention of Silly Putty is disputed and has been attributed variously to Earl Warwick,

Of the then-newly formed Dow Corning,

Harvey Chin,

And James Wright,

A Scottish-born inventor working for General Electric in New Haven,

Connecticut.

Throughout his life,

Warwick insisted that he and his colleague,

Rob Roy McGregor,

Received the patent for Silly Putty before Wright did.

But Crayola's History of Silly Putty states that Wright first invented it in 1943.

Both researchers independently discovered that reacting boric acid with silicon oil would produce a gooey,

Bouncy material with several unique properties.

The non-toxic putty would bounce when dropped,

Could stretch farther than regular rubber,

Would not go moldy,

And had a very high melting temperature.

However,

The substance did not have all the properties needed to replace rubber.

In 1949,

Toy store owner Ruth Fallgatter came across the putty.

She contacted marketing consultant Peter C.

L.

Hodgson,

1912-1976.

The two decided to market the bouncing putty by selling it in a clear case.

Although it sold well,

Fallgatter did not pursue it further.

However,

Hodgson saw its potential.

Already $12,

000 in debt,

Hodgson borrowed $147 to buy a batch of the putty to pack one-ounce portions into plastic eggs for $1,

Calling it Silly Putty.

Initial sales were poor,

But after a New York article mentioned it,

Hodgson sold over 250,

000 eggs of Silly Putty in three days.

However,

Hodgson was almost put out of business in 1951 by the Korean War.

Silicon,

The main ingredient in Silly Putty,

Was put on ration,

Harming his business.

A year later,

The restriction on silicon was lifted and the production of Silly Putty resumed.

Initially,

It was primarily targeted towards adults.

However,

By 1955,

The majority of its consumers were aged 6 to 12.

In 1957,

Hodgson produced the first televised commercial for Silly Putty,

Which aired during the Howdy Doody show.

In 1961,

Silly Putty went worldwide,

Becoming a hit in the Soviet Union and Europe.

In 1968,

It was taken into lunar orbit by the Apollo 8 astronauts.

Peter Hodgson died in 1976.

A year later,

Binney & Smith,

The makers of Crayola products,

Acquired the rights to Silly Putty.

As of 2005,

Annual Silly Putty sales exceeded 6 million eggs.

Silly Putty was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame on May 28,

2001.

In addition to its success as a toy,

Other uses for the putty have been found.

In the home,

It can be used to remove substances such as dirt,

Lint,

Pet hair,

Or ink from various surfaces.

The material's unique properties have found niche use in medical and scientific applications.

Occupational therapists use it for rehabilitative therapy of hand injuries.

A number of other brands,

Such as Power Putty and Thera Putty,

Alter the material's properties,

Offering different levels of resistance.

The material is also used as a tool to help reduce stress,

And exists in various viscosities based on the user's preference.

Because of its adhesive characteristics,

It was used by Apollo astronauts to secure their tools in zero gravity.

Scale model building hobbyists use the putty as a masking medium when spray painting model assemblies.

The Stewart Observatory uses a Silly Putty-backed lap to polish astronomical telescope mirrors.

Researchers from Trinity College,

Dublin School of Physics,

Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices,

CRAN,

And Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research,

Hamburg Research Centres,

Have discovered nanocomposite mixtures of graphene and Silly Putty behave as sensitive pressure sensors,

Claiming the ability to measure the footsteps of a spider crawling on it.

The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented and developed by American naval engineer Richard D.

James in 1943,

And successfully demonstrated at Gimbel's department store in Philadelphia on November 27,

1945.

It can perform a number of tricks,

Including traveling down a flight of steps,

End over end,

As it stretches and reforms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum,

And appearing to levitate for a period of time after it has been dropped.

These interesting characteristics have contributed to its success in its home country of the United States,

And it has inspired many popular toys with Slinky-like components in a wide range of countries.

In 1943,

Richard T.

James,

A naval mechanical engineer,

Observed a spring stepping downward after being knocked off a shelf,

Then coming to rest in a vertical position.

James's wife,

Betty,

Later recalled,

I think if I got the right property of steel and the right tension,

I could make it walk.

James experimented with different types of steel wire over the next year,

And finally found a spring that would walk.

Betty was skeptical,

But changed her mind when the toy was fine-tuned,

And neighborhood children expressed an excited interest in it.

Richard and Betty formed James Industries and began manufacturing Slinkys in Clifton Heights,

Pennsylvania,

Selling them for $1 each.

They were 2 1⁄2 inches tall,

And included 98 coils of high-grade blue-black Swedish steel.

They initially had difficulty selling Slinky to toy stores,

But in 1945 they were granted permission to set up an inclined plane in the toy section of Gimbel's department store in Philadelphia to be demonstrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

It was an instant hit.

The first 400 units were sold in 90 minutes.

In 1946,

Slinky was introduced at the American Toy Fair.

The Slinky was originally priced at $1,

But many paid much more due to price increases of spring steel in Pennsylvania.

It has,

However,

Remained modestly priced throughout its history,

As a result of Betty James's concern about the toy's affordability for less affluent customers.

In addition to its use as a toy,

It has been used as a classroom teaching tool,

As a portable and extendable radio antenna in wartime,

Particularly in the Vietnam War.

It was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong in Rochester,

New York,

In 2000.

In 2003,

It was named to the Toy Industry Association's Century of Toys list.

In its first 60 years,

About 300 million Slinkys were sold.

In 1960,

After his wife filed for divorce,

Richard James left the company and he became an evangelical missionary in Bolivia with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Betty James moved the company to Hollidaysburg,

Pennsylvania in 1964,

And the company grew under her direction.

She attributed the toy's success to its simplicity.

The company was sold to Poof Products,

Inc.

In 1998.

Slinky continued production in Hollidaysburg.

Betty James died of congestive heart failure in November 2008 at age 90,

After serving as James Industries president from 1960 to 1998.

In July 2012,

Poof Slinky,

Inc.

Was acquired by the private equity firm Propel Equity Partners.

In 2014,

Propel Equity Partners consolidated Poof Slinky and several other toy brands into Alex Brands.

In July 2020,

The Slinky brand was sold to Just Play.

The rules that govern the mechanics of a Slinky are Hooke's Law and the effects of gravitation.

When set in motion on a stepped platform,

Such as a stairway,

The Slinky transfers energy along its length in a longitudinal wave.

The whole spring descends end over end in a periodical motion,

As if it were walking down one step at a time.

When the top end of the Slinky is dropped,

The information of the tension change must propagate to the bottom end before both sides begin to fall.

The top of an extended Slinky will drop while the bottom initially remains in its original position,

Compressing the spring.

This creates a suspension time of roughly 0.

3 seconds for an original Slinky,

But has potential to create a much larger suspension time.

A suspended Slinky's center of mass is accelerating downward at one gravity of Earth,

About 32 feet per second squared.

When released,

The lower portion moves up toward the top portion with an equivalent,

Constant upward acceleration as the tension is relieved.

As the spring contracts,

Every point along its length will accelerate downward with gravity and tension,

And experience a decrease in overall downward acceleration related to height along the spring due to the spring force changing with extension.

At the bottom of the spring,

The upward initial acceleration reduces in accordance with Hooke's Law.

As the spring contracts,

But the center toward which it is moving gets closer,

Meaning the base will have been displaced sufficiently toward the center of inertial mass for it to appear to have hung still.

Should this phenomenology extend to very light strings with heavy suspended masses which have approximately linear tension distributions,

Different mathematics could be needed to explain the phenomenon.

Commercial History Jingle The jingle for the Slinky television commercial was created in Columbia,

South Carolina in 1962 with Johnny McCullough and Homer Fessberman writing the music and Charles Weakley penning the lyrics.

It became the longest running jingle in advertising history.

The jingle has itself been parodied and referenced in popular culture.

It is seen in the Log commercial on The Ren and Stimpy Show and sung by actor Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura When Nature Calls.

It is also referenced in the movie Lords of Dogtown where it is sung in full by Emile Hirsch and is sung by Eddie Murphy as part of the final routine in the stand-up comedy film Eddie Murphy Raw.

It was also parodied in an ad for the Isuzu Amigo used as a promo for the vehicle's return in late March 1998,

Nearly two months before the ad was pulled due to criticism from the company that made the Slinky.

Slinky Dog Early in the history of James Industries,

Helen Herrick Malsud of Washington State sent the company a letter and drawings for developing Slinky pull toys.

The company liked her ideas and Slinky Dog and Slinky Train were added to the company's product line.

Slinky Dog,

A small plastic dog whose front and rear ends were joined by a metal Slinky,

Debuted in 1952.

Malsud received royalties of $60,

000 to $70,

000 annually for 17 years on her patent for the Slinky pull toy idea,

But never visited the plant.

In 1995,

The Slinky Dog,

Voiced by Jim Varney and Blake Clark,

Was redesigned for all of Pixar's Toy Story movies.

James Industries had discontinued their Slinky Dog a few years previously.

Betty James approved of the new Slinky Dog,

Telling the press,

The earlier Slinky Dog wasn't nearly as cute as this one.

Plastic Slinky Plastic Slinkys are also available.

They can be made in different colors.

Many of them are made with colors of the rainbow in rainbow order.

They were marketed in the 1970s as a safer alternative to metal Slinkys as they did not present a hazard when inserted into electrical sockets.

The plastic spring toy,

Known as the Plastic Slinky,

Was invented by Donald James Ruhm of Avon Plastics in Albany,

Minnesota.

Ruhm came up with the idea as he was experimenting with different techniques to produce a spiral hose for watering plants.

However,

As it came off the assembly line,

According to his children,

It looked more like a Slinky.

He worked at it until it came out perfectly and then went to Betty James with his prototype.

Ruhm manufactured the Plastic Slinky for Betty James for several years.

Eventually,

Betty James decided to manufacture the product exclusively through James Manufacturing,

Effectively ending the production of the toy by the small Minnesota company.

Ruhm's patent number,

412-0929,

Was filed on December 28,

1976 and issued by the U.

S.

Patent Office on October 17,

1978.

In 1999,

The United States Postal Service issued a Slinky postage stamp.

The Slinky was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2000 in their Celebrate the Century stamp series.

A bill to nominate the Slinky as a state toy of Pennsylvania was introduced by Richard Geist in 2001,

But not enacted.

The same year,

Betty James was inducted into the Toy Industry Association's Hall of Fame.

In 2003,

Slinky was named to the Toy Industry Association's Century of Toys list of the 20th century's 100 most memorable and creative toys.

Slinkys and similar springs can be used to create a laser gun-like sound effect.

This is done by holding up a Slinky in the air and striking one end,

Causing a metallic sound that sharply lowers in pitch.

The effect can be amplified by attaching a plastic cup to one end of the Slinky.

The Helixophone is the name composer and artist Sonia Paco Rocha gave to a musical instrument made with a Slinky and a resonator.

Helix is a sound installation with up to 20 Helixophones,

Automated and playing an interactive sound composition.

Metal Slinkys can be used as an antenna.

It resonates between 7 and 8 MHz.

During the Vietnam War,

It was used as a portable antenna for local HF communication.

This setup had many advantages over a long wire shot from M79 grenade launchers.

Small dimensions,

Fast and quiet installation,

Reusability,

Good take-off angle for local communication,

And adequate performance.

It was also used to extend the ranges of handheld radios.

In 1985,

In conjunction with the Johnson Space Center,

And the Houston Museum of Natural Science,

Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts created a video demonstrating how familiar toys behaved in space.

One astronaut described the toy as sort of drooping.

The video was prepared to simulate interest in school children about the basic principles of physics and the phenomenon of weightlessness.

Several online videos have shown that a Slinky can be mounted on the pole of a bird feeder to deter squirrels from climbing up the pole.

Thank you for listening to the I Can't Sleep podcast.

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Until next time,

Happy sleeping.

Reviews

I only made it about half way through, I used to have a slinky but couldn’t stay awake long enough to listen (which is a good thing!)
Thank you!! ☺️☺️

Never made it to the slinky. As a child I played with each of those things. I remember pressing the silly puddy into the Sunday comics… 🥱😴💤

Playdoh. That's all I heard. Thanks for the wonderful sleep.