Play-Doh was invented to clean coal soot off wallpaper. 𧽠. . . In 1933, Cincinnati company Kutol sold the doughy putty as a wallpaper cleaner β you rolled it over walls blackened by coal furnace soot. When homes switched to vinyl wallpaper in the 1950s, Kutol nearly collapsed. A nursery school teacher named Kay Zufall suggested giving it to kids. It hit shelves as Play-Doh soon after.
Source
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