What does Play-Doh have to do with burning coaland perfume? There’s a surprising connectionbetween them. Play- Doh has a long and complex history, and the story starts with dirty wallpaper.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many people still heatedtheir homes with coal, which was cheap but dirty. It would leave black marks on the insides of people’s houses and ruinthe wallpaper. A company called Kutol, run by Cleo and Joseph McVicker, developed a soft, sticky, safe materialthat people could use to clean their walls. It worked and sold very well at first. Later, however, the public started switching tocleaner sources of heatlike oil, gas, and electricity. The McVickers and their sticky inventionwere in trouble.
heat [ hit ] vt. 加熱 & n. 熱（度） ruin [ ruɪn ] vt. 毀壞 material [ məˈtɪrɪəl ] n. 物質；材料 switch to... 轉為⋯⋯，改為⋯⋯ electricity [ ɪˌlɛkˈtrɪsətɪ ] n. 電，電力
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With lots of the stufflying around, Joseph McVicker’s sister-in-lawhad an idea. She brought the soft, moist, and safe material to a class she taught. The kids loved it. They used the cleaning doughto make Christmas decorations. Thus, in the middle of the 20th century, a humblewallpaper cleaner became one of the world’s most famous toys. It was renamed Play-Doh and has been popular ever since.
