Play-Doh was originally meant for a very different purpose, according to Daven Hiskey:

• In 1933 people used coal to heat their homes which generated a lot of soot that clung to the walls.
• Play-Doh was invented to remove the soot. It could be rolled against the walls to pick up the grime.
• Coal started to be replaced by oil and gas, and vinyl wallpapers that could be cleaned with water and soap became more popular causing sales of Play-Doh to crash.
• After removing the cleaning agents and adding some scents the material was repurposed into a toy.
• Moreover, while as wallpaper cleaner it sold for $0.34 a can, as a toy they could sell the same amount for $1.50.
• The makers soon had close to ten years’ worth of orders to fill.

Read more about Play-Doh’s history, how the person who came up with the name, and the idea to use it as a children’s toy, was given no credit, and how Captain Kangaroo helped make it a hit over here.

Source: Today I Found Out

Via: Huffington Post