Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids.
Today, it’s SILLY PUTTY’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)…
WHAT is Silly Putty: Silly Putty is a goo-type substance that can be molded, bounced, stretched, snapped and once could even copy newspaper print. (Printing inks and processes are different today than they were back in the 1950’s and most are not transferable by Silly Putty… but it’s worth a try!)
WHO invented Silly Putty: Silly Putty wasn’t invented as a toy. It’s one of those accidental inventions that would, though, go on to become one of the most famous toy products of all time.
The inventor of Silly Putty, James Wright, was really an engineer who was working in New Haven, CT at a General Electric laboratory. Wright’s project was the development of a synthetic rubber substitute, but one day he mixed silicon oil and boric acid in a test tube and a gooey-solid substance was born.
The rest is toy history.
WHEN was Silly Putty invented: James Wright invented the strange new substance in 1943.
By 1945, General Electric was satisfied that this substance was not practical for any use involving synthetic rubber.
It wasn’t until 1949 when a toy shop owner and her advertising consultant, Peter Hodgson, bumped into someone who had the nutty putty substance at a party…
Hodgson thought the substance would make a fabulous toy. He borrowed $147.00, bought the rights to the substance from General Electric, re-named the substance Silly Putty, packaged it in plastic eggs, some say, as an Easter toy… and debuted his Silly Putty toy at the 1950 International Toy Fair in New York City.
More than 300 million eggs of Silly Putty have been sold worldwide since 1950. Wow.
HOW is Silly Putty used: Fun, fun and more fun as it molds, stretches and bounces to fascinates kids of all ages.
But Silly Putty has also gone into space on Apollo 8… used in zero gravity to stabilize tools. Now that’s a “ta-dah!”
Go out today and grab an egg or two of Silly Putty for your kids and grandkids. Mold it. Stretch it. Bounce it. Do experiments with it! Just get back in on the fun you had with Silly Putty when you were a kid... this time with its STORY to pass along.
Join me here each day in July for TOY STORIES on 365 Days of Literacy for Kids! A little fun, a little learning and a little “ta-dah!”
