About Silly Putty

History

• In 1949 a toy store owner named Ruth Fallgatter, in consulting her product catalog with a marketer named Peter Hodgson, brought up the subject of the bouncing putty. They decided to put it in the magazine for two dollars and it became the second best selling item in the catalog. Later, Fallgatter stopped offering Silly Putty. Hodgson then bought the rights from General Electric and presented the bouncing putty at New York's 1950 International Toy Fair. In readying his presentation, Hodgson placed the putty in red plastic eggs and renamed it from bouncing putty to it's now official name Silly Putty.
  Though it was stocked in Doubleday bookstores and at Neiman-Marcus, Silly Putty wasn't really popular until later that year, when a newspaper columnist wrote an article on it. After the article was published Silly Putty sales were phenomenal. In 1957, Silly Putty's advertising reached into television media. During the commercial breaks of "Captain Kangaroo" and "The Howdy Doody Show" ads were aired for it.

Identification

• Silly Putty is a silicone polymer. A polymer is a chain of molecules made of many chemically bonded smaller identical molecules. In Silly Putty's original formula, boric acid is considered a cross linking substance through its holding together of the strands of the polymer.

Features

• Silly Putty is defined as a non-Newtonian substance because it's a "solid liquid." It bounces farther than rubber even when the temperature is extreme. If you drop it, it will return to a height that is 80 percent of where it was dropped from.
  Newspaper print used to be considered messy because the ink was petroleum based and would rub off easily. During this time Silly Putty could be used as a form of printing press. By pressing the putty onto the newspaper some of the paper's ink would cling to the putty. When pressed on a blank piece of paper, the image from the newspaper would be transferred.

Considerations

• Other than "bouncing putty," Silly Putty was also known as "nutty putty" and was first marketed to adults as a "novelty item." Silly Putty can leave a light oily residue on surfaces. It can also be difficult to remove from cloth, though the use of an alcohol based liquid aids in its removal. Since Silly Putty has an oil base, it won't dry out if left out for a few days. Silly Putty is non-toxic. If an animal eats it, however, consult your veterinarian.

Significance

• Silly Putty has become an integral part of American culture. It was on display in the Smithsonian Institution during the 1950s. Later in 1968 the space mission Apollo 8 even took Silly Putty to the moon.