What popular toy was originally invented as a wallpaper cleaner?

What popular toy was originally invented as a wallpaper cleaner? The answer is Play-Doh.

Before it became a children’s modeling compound, the material was marketed by Cincinnati-based Kutol Products as a wallpaper-cleaning compound. In homes heated by coal, soot could accumulate on wallpaper; the soft, pliable substance was rolled over the surface to lift away grime without damaging the paper.

Its transformation into a toy came in the 1950s. Schoolteacher Kay Zufall discovered that children enjoyed molding the wallpaper cleaner and told her brother-in-law, Kutol executive Joseph McVicker. McVicker recognized its potential, helped adapt the product for children, and introduced it as Play-Doh in 1956. The original grayish cleaner was replaced with brighter colors and sold as a reusable modeling material.

A common mix-up is assuming Play-Doh was invented specifically as clay or dough for art projects. Its unusual history is closer to an accidental repurposing: changing household heating and the declining need for soot-removing wallpaper products helped push Kutol toward the toy market. Slinky, LEGO, and Silly Putty have different origin stories and were not wallpaper cleaners.