Play-Doh Disney/Pixar Toy Story Buzz Lightyear Set, Multicolour E3369EU4

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Joe McVicker was the brother-in-law of nursery school teacher Kay Zufall, 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. Like the play-doh story, and the story of this iconic toy, who would have thought at the time a product that started off as a popular wallpaper cleaner would become one of history’s most well-recognized and memorable toys? His creativity prevailed once again when he introduced his new line of Play-Doh to Bob Keeshan, otherwise known to the television world as Captain Kangaroo. It is now sold in a panoply of hues, including Rose Red, Purple Paradise, Garden Green and Blue Lagoon.

Let’s talk about the history of play-doh or playdough, and how the play-doh story is not much different from the story of many other popular items we are familiar with today. Joseph McVicker was trying to turn around the struggling company when his sister-in-law read an article about how wallpaper cleaner could be used for modeling projects. If you were a kid growing up any time between the mid-1950s and today, you probably know what Play-Doh is.

Around this time, in 1955, McVicker’s sister-in-law, Kay Zufall, a school teacher, convinced him to think about their product as a handicraft and play object. Rainbow Crafts repackaged the product, now known as Play-Doh and marketed it to elementary schools in the greater Cincinnati area. The original Play-Doh logo, comprised of the words in white script inside a red trefoil-shaped graphic, has changed little over the years. On the most popular children’s television show of its time, Captain Kangaroo catapulted Play-Doh into the national spotlight.

In 2011, Hasbro introduced the talking Play-Doh cans, the official mascots featured on the product's cans and boxes. The result was the hugely popular Fun Factory that, with minimal force, would extrude Play-Doh into various shapes and designs.

In 1972, General Mills placed Play-Doh under the Kenner brand name, and Kenner continued to manufacture Play-Doh until the company was acquired by Hasbro in 1991.

McVicker wanted his product to reach a larger audience, not just schools, but he lacked a substantial advertising budget. 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. They created a pliable, malleable clay-like substance that could be used to make shapes and figures.