HOW ECONOMICS SHAPED PLAY-DOH
Play-Doh, one of the most popular of kids toys, grew out of desperation and one man’s willingness to be pliable to the whims of the marketplace.
1912
Cleo McVicker founds Kutol Products Co. in Cincinnati, OH. In 1927, with his firm in trouble, Cleo hires his brother to help manage it. Noah McVicker has a knack for developing products.
1933
Cleo McVicker signs a deal with Kroger stores to make a wallpaper cleaner exclusive to the chain. Kutol has never made wallpaper cleaner before, but Noah comes up with a formula using flour, salt and water.
The product is in high demand in U.S. houses, where coal furnaces leave a sooty residue on walls and ceilings.
1949
Demand for Kutol’s wallpaper compound plunges as new postwar homes feature cleanerburning oil, gas or electric furnaces. Then, Cleo McVicker dies in a plane crash. His son Joseph steps in to manage the failing company.
1955
Joe McVicker’s sisterin-law Kay Zufall reads an article about how wallpaper cleaner can be used as modeling clay. A nursery school teacher, Zufall has her pupils mold Kutol’s compound into all kinds of shapes and then invites Joe to the class to see the kids’ creations.
1956
Joe McVicker and his Uncle Noah form Rainbow Crafts to make and sell their children’s modeling clay—a modified version of the old wallpaper cleaner, but with a snappy new name, Play-Doh.
The earliest product, sold in 1½-pound cans, is off-white.
1957
Rainbow Crafts offers Play-Doh in red, yellow and blue. Today, it comes in more than 50 colors, the most popular being Rose Red, Blue Lagoon, Purple Paradise and Garden Green.
1958
Seeking a wider market for his toy, Joe McVicker approaches kids TV star Bob Keeshan—aka Captain Kangaroo—and asks him to promote it on his show. Keeshan plugs Play-Doh twice a week in exchange for 2% of sales. Ads on Romper Room and
Ding Dong School soon follow. Play-Doh takes off.
1960
Rainbow Crafts introduces the Fun Factory, a plastic extruder that forms Play-Doh into a variety of shapes.
1998
Play-Doh is inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.