Play-Doh was originally marketed as wallpaper cleaner.'
Developed in the 1930s by a man named Noah McVicker, Play-Doh was originally sold as wallpaper cleaner by the Kutol Company, a soap manufacturer based in Cincinnati. In 1956, with the company floundering, McVicker and his nephew Joseph began marketing the product as a toy under the newly formed company, Rainbow Crafts. When Play-Doh was featured on TV by children's entertainer Captain Kangaroo in 1957, sales began took off and had reached $3 million by 1958.