Interesting Facts About Play-Doh

History

• Play-Doh originally began as an all white wallpaper cleaning compound known as Kutol Wall Cleaner. In 1955, the detergents were removed and the company was renamed Rainbow Crafts. Color was added and the compound became known as Play-Doh.

Size

• Once Play-Doh was reformulated into a children's modeling compound, it was originally sold in one gallon cans with its color indicated on the lid. It wasn't until a year after its debut that the smaller cans were made available to the public.

Sales

• Play-Doh is available in 75 different countries. Hasbro sells approximately 95 million cans annually.

Captain Kangaroo

• Unable to afford a national marketing campaign, Rainbow Crafts formed an informal deal with Bob Keeshan, know to children as Captain Kangaroo, to have Play-Doh featured on his show twice a week. In return, Bob's production company received a 2 percent cut of Play-Doh's sales.

Play-Doh Pete

• In 1960, Play-Doh Pete, a boy garbed in a beret and artist's smock, was introduced as the modeling clay's mascot. Today, Pete graces cans of Play-Doh wearing a backwards baseball cap and a t-shirt.