Silly Putty was invented on March 6, 1950. Or more correctly, it was "reinvented" as a toy. That makes me as old as Silly Putty! You know the gooey stuff--it bounces, breaks, snaps, flows like a liquid through a hole and eventually makes a puddle on the floor. It copies and distorts pictures in a fun way from comics and newspapers. Who hasn't played with Silly Putty? It's also a pretty good stress reliever for adults. And since 1950, 300 million eggs of Silly Putty have been sold-- about 20,000 a day.
The basic compound for Silly Putty is silicone, and it was accidentally created by a Dow Corning scientist during WWII as a possible rubber substitute. In 1945, they sent samples to scientists all over the world, but it couldn't replace real rubber and no practical use was found. In 1950, the putty somehow reached the owner of a toy store and she put it in her catalog where it immediately outsold every item except crayons. Eventually it was packed in the plastic eggs we remember and sold for $1.
The first television commercial for Silly Putty aired during the Howdy Doody Show in 1957. If you're a walking antique like me, you might remember this:
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