Play-Doh was originally a wallpaper cleaner.

Violet Play-Doh

Once upon a time, Play-Doh wasn’t for playing — it was for cleaning wallpaper. Back in 1912, the Cincinnati-based Kutol Products Company made a soft, doughy compound designed to lift soot from walls. It worked like a charm… until homes switched from coal heat to cleaner fuels around 1950, and suddenly nobody needed it. Kutol’s future looked bleak until inspiration struck in an unlikely place: a nursery school.

Joseph McVicker, whose family ran Kutol, had a sister-in-law, Kay Zufall, who ran a community nursery school in New Jersey. Zufall had read about making holiday decorations from wallpaper cleaner and thought it could be perfect for the children at her school. She found a supply at the local hardware store, and the kids loved it. The pliable, nontoxic dough was easy to mold, didn’t crumble, and could be used over and over.

Sensing a golden (or at least dough-colored) opportunity, McVicker rebranded the product as Play-Doh in 1956, launching it in red, yellow, and blue shades. (Hence the name of the new company formed to market the product: Rainbow Crafts.) Department stores such as Macy’s and Marshall Field’s quickly stocked it, and TV appearances on Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room sent sales soaring. By 1960, the Play-Doh Fun Factory — a gizmo that extruded the dough into spaghetti strands, stars, and more — cemented the toy’s status as a playroom essential.

Today, Play-Doh is a full-blown franchise owned by Hasbro, with themed sets from My Little Pony to Star Wars, plus spin-offs including Play-Doh Slime, Cloud, and Foam. More than 3 billion cans have been sold worldwide — not bad for a product once headed for the trash heap of history.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Play-Doh cans used to feature a pixie on the label.

When Play-Doh first hit shelves in the mid-1950s, its cans showed cheerful children at play. But soon a whimsical mascot appeared: the Play-Doh Pixie, a pointy-eared figure somewhere between Elmer Fudd and Peter Pan. By 1960, he had evolved into “Play-Doh Pete,” a boy in an artist’s smock and beret, ready to spark kids’ creativity. Over the decades, Pete’s style changed with the times — slimming down, brightening up, and eventually trading his beret for a baseball cap. Though his look has shifted, Pete remains a colorful reminder of the brand’s playful, make-anything spirit.