Classic Toys: Silly Putty

The Original Silly Putty

Inventing Bouncing Putty and the Popularity of Silly Putty

Silly Putty is one of the most enduring toys, having sold worldwide for nearly 60 years. But it didn’t start out as a toy. It has a very sober, scientific beginning dating back to World War II. Because of the long duration of the war, raw materials like rubber were becoming harder to come by. The Japanese had invaded countries in Asia were the rubber trees grew. In 1943 the United States government’s War Production Board put out a challenge to industries in America to develop an alternative, synthetic rubber.

In answer to the challenge, chemical engineer James Wright of General Electric in New Haven, Connecticut tried many chemical combinations in the hope of creating a synthetic rubber. In one test, he combined boric acid and silicone oil in a test tube. He created a compound that polymerized. He removed the substance from the test tube and in order to test its qualities, he dropped it on the floor. It bounced. Wright named his creation Bouncing Putty. Unfortunately he quickly noted that this substance would not function as a synthetic rubber. It was soft, didn’t hold its shape and broke when under pressure. But both Wright and General Electric believed the goo could be used for something, so Wright applied for a patent and GE sent the putty to engineers and scientists to determine what its uses could be. Five years later, the verdict came back: the putty could serve no useful purpose.

A party hosted by a GE executive served to introduce Bouncing Putty to Ruth Fallgatter, a New Haven toy storeowner, and Peter Hodgson, a marketing consultant. They were both impressed with this product that had become an amusement to be found at numerous adult parties in New England. In 1949 Fallgatter contracted with Hodgson to produce her catalog, and consequently got into a discussion about Bouncing Putty. They added it to the catalog and began selling it in a clear, little case for $2. The only thing they sold more of in the catalog were 50 cent boxes of Crayola hexagonal crayons. Fallgatter, nevertheless, decided to drop the putty from her catalog.

Despite being $12,000 in debt, Hodgson made a deal with GE and purchased $147 of putty with money he had borrowed. Hodgson looked at 15 different possible names for the putty. He considered the different properties of the goo. It did more than just bounce. If he pulled it slowly, it could stretch as far as he could spread his arms. If it was pulled suddenly, it broke. When the putty was kneaded, it would get air bubbles that could be popped, making a great “snap”. This was a fun, silly putty. He changed the name to Silly Putty. As Easter was fast approaching, Hodgson decided to package 1-ounce chunks of putty into plastic eggs and he sold them for $1.

In February of 1950, Hodgson introduced Silly Putty at the International Toy Fair In New York. The other toy marketers saw little use for Hodgson’s Silly Putty and encouraged him to abandon his plans to promote it. Without any regard to their discouraging comments, Hodgson brought the Silly Putty production to a converted barn in North Branford, CT. He continued to package the Silly Putty in plastic eggs and these were shipped to toy stores in pasteboard egg crates that he acquired from the Connecticut Cooperative Poultry Association. Although this was an innovative idea, it didn’t catch on as Hodgson had hoped, until he got some help from an unexpected ally. That August the writer for the Talk of the Town section of “The New Yorker” magazine wrote an article about Silly Putty after he had discovered it in a bookstore. Hodgson shortly thereafter received orders for over a quarter million eggs of Silly Putty within just three days time.

Hodgson had shipped nearly 7 tons of Silly Putty to stores when trouble hit in 1951. As a result of the Korean War, the government was putting restrictions on raw materials, like silicone. Hodgson had to stop production. He rationed the remaining 1,500 pounds of Silly Putty to fill some of the orders that had piled up in the hope of keeping his customers happy until production could pick up once again. Fortunately, the ban was lifted the following year, demand for Silly Putty was still strong, and Hodgson was back in business producing Silly Putty and able to meet the demands of his customers.

The demand for the quirky putty toy continued to increase and within five years from the time that Silly Putty first hit the stores, its market had flopped. Interest from adults had faded, while the interest in the putty from children soared. Kids had discovered that Silly Putty could be placed on a comic or newspaper page to pick up the image, which then could be stretched and contorted. (I used to look forward to the Sunday comics myself for this reason.) By 1955, it was a favorite among children ages 6 to 12. When Hodgson saw the change in his customer base, he began to advertise Silly Putty on television during “Captain Kangaroo” and “The Howdie Doody Show”, making it one of the first products shown on TV to be directed specifically to kids.

In 1961, with the help of his son, Peter Hodgson Jr., Silly Putty was introduced to the children of the USSR at the US Plastics Expo in Moscow. Soon after, it was introduced to Europe. It was a huge success in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and in 1963 the craze was brought to England.

In 1968 Silly Putty went with the Apollo 8 astronauts to the Moon, supposedly to relieve the astronauts’ stress. It was also utilized to hold down tools in the weightless atmosphere.

Hodgson’s company never made any other product than Silly Putty. He died in 1976 leaving a $140 million estate. In 1977 his son sold the rights to Silly Putty to Crayola Crayon maker, Binney & Smith of Easton, Pennsylvania. By then, sales had begun to taper off. Binney & Smith sought to increase the distribution of the putty and by 1987 they had built the business back up and there was a renewed fondness for Silly Putty resulting in sales of 2 million eggs a year.
Today Silly Putty is the subject of a display at the Smithsonian Institute. There are variations to the original, including Changeable Silly Putty that changes color with the warmth of your hands. In 2000, the 50th Anniversary of Silly Putty was marked with the release of Metallic Gold Silly Putty.
Some Silly Putty facts:

•    Originally pinkish-beige, there are 13 colors of Silly Putty available today, including 4 that glow in the dark.
•    Binney & Smith used a marshmallow-cutting machine to cut the Silly Putty before packaging it into the plastic eggs.
•    Receivers on the New England Patriots football team have been known to use Silly Putty to strengthen hand muscles.
•    Silly Putty is referred to as a solid-liquid.
•    Over 4500 tons of Silly Putty have been made since 1950.
•    Silly Putty has been called the toy with one moving part.