Kunkel Law Firm 888-228-9680
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Gregory Kunkel, Esq. PAGE 1 Overcome Stress —With the Right Help PAGE 1 Cat Saves 83-Year-Old From Potentially Fatal Tumble PAGE 2 Liar, Liar, Fingers on Fire PAGE 3 Inspiration PAGE 3 One-Pan Baked Salmon and Veggies PAGE 3 The Surprising History of Play-Doh PAGE 4
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FromWall Cleaner to Kid Pleaser Play-Doh’s Unexpected Origins
1930s was not water-resistant, so homeowners needed a means to dab the dirt rather than wash it away. Then, in the 1950s, many families converted their home furnaces to oil or gas. That was good news for anyone tasked with cleaning the house, but not for Kutol. Sales plummeted, and the company again faced ruin. This time, Joseph McVicker (Cleo’s son) took the advice of his sister-in-law, a teacher named Kay Zufall. She told him that children loved to use the wallpaper cleaner as a craft product, and she even had an idea for its new name. In 1956, Kutol created their subsidiary Rainbow Crafts and unveiled Play-Doh. Kutol didn’t have much of an advertising budget, but Joseph scored a meeting with Bob Keeshan, better known as Captain Kangaroo. Keeshen loved the product (and his 2% cut of the profits), and once Play-Doh made its television debut, sales skyrocketed. Despite the company changing hands several times, Play-Doh is now a childhood staple with endless color options, accessories, and playsets. It sells more than 100 million cans every year and was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998. That’s a lot of success for a company that just wanted to stay afloat without getting its hands dirty.
Since the 1950s, Play-Doh has delighted children, inspired creativity, and made messes for parents to scrub. So, it’s ironic that the child’s toy was invented for a very dull and much tidier adult activity — cleaning wallpaper. In 1933, Kutol Products was not doing well financially. Cleo McVicker was tasked with shutting the soap company down, but instead, he saved it from collapse. When meeting with national grocery chain Kroger, they asked if Kutol could supply ready-made wallpaper cleaner. McVicker said yes, even though they didn’t carry the product. He promised Kroger 15,000 cases, with a $5,000 penalty to be paid if Kutol couldn’t deliver on time. Kutol didn’t have $5,000, so it was lucky that McVicker did have his product developer brother, Noah. Noah created the wallpaper cleaner from a well-known home formula — water, salt, and flour. The product turned Kutol’s fortunes around and helped the company to remain solvent. In the 1930s, people had a much larger need for wallpaper cleaner than you might imagine. Most homes used coal furnaces, which left black soot residue on walls. Worse, the wallpaper available in the
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