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Play-Doh's surprising origins
Did you know Play-Doh started out as a cleaning product?
In the 1920s, coal fires heated US homes, leaving soot everywhere so the soft putty was used to clean soot and dirt from wallpaper.
But by the 1950s, homes were switching to gas and oil and wallpaper was becoming wipeable. Sales plunged.
That's when nursery teacher Kay Zufall had an idea...
(Picture: Kay Zufall with children, Credit: Peg Roberts)