Play-Doh

Whether it's the smell that you've never been able to forget, or you're still finding bits of it in your parent's carpets, Playdoh has stuck with us (literally!). We might not remember exactly what it was we moulded out of this clay-like, non-toxic, coloured dough, but that never mattered that much when Play-doh was concerned. A lot of time, in fact, was spent daring your mates to lick the Play-doh, or (gasp!) eat a little bit, just to see if they'd die or not. It was only when we got bored of that, or wise to the fact that nothing happened - it just tasted really, really salty - that we'd actually start playing with it. But where did it come from, you may well ask?

Joe McVicker is the answer, when in 1956 he tested out a clay he'd made from wallpaper paste on some local kids. That imaginative bunch immediately got to grips with it, making all kinds of fantastic creations.No doubt like many other kids that would follow, they were won over by the fact that, if their creation went a bit wrong or they got bored of making something, they could just squish the dough back together and start over. It was a cost-effective toy, there's no debating that!

Play-Doh was first sold in Washington DC, distributed by Rainbow Crafts. It came in only one colour back in those days - off-white - packaged in a half-pound can. Red, blue and yellow were later introduced to the Play-Doh range.

Fans were quick to learn around this time two simple rules of playing with Play-Doh. First, the lid of a Play-Doh pot/can must be kept sealed when the dough is not in use. If not, all that will be left the next morning is a hard, cracked, unusable version of your beloved Play-Doh. The second lesson was that if you decide to mix different colours of Play-Doh together, you won't be able to EVER separate them again. Let this be a warning to us all.

To guide us along in our play, 1960 saw the introduction of Play-Doh Pete, the brand's resilient - and beret-wearing - mascot seen on all packaging. Maybe it was Pete's artistic influence that led to the assortment of new Play-Doh accessories to help take the toy to a new level. There was the popular Fun Factory, where kids would squeeze the dough through different-shaped tubes. Then the Fuzzy Pumper Barber and Beauty Shop had us creating Play-Doh hairstyles for toys that we could restyle over and over. Aspiring dentists were treated in the same way, with a plastic mouth they could fill with fillings etc, and bakers could fashion Play-Doh pizzas in the Bakery and Chef's Oven.

The fashion-forward 80s and 90s had us playing with glow-in-the-dark and glitter Play-Doh, plus a range of new colours. All this helped to shift over 900 million pounds of the stuff to date, now produced by Hasbro which took over Play-Doh in 1991. As if having glow-in-the-dark Play-Doh wasn't mind-blowing enough, the 50th anniversary saw an even more bizarre addition to the this range of gorgeous gooeyness... it's a Play-Doh perfume, no less! Yes, now we can all walk around smelling of one of our favourite childhood pastimes. Hmmmm? Not so sure about that.

Kirstie