Inducted Year: 2001
Just after World War II, three Minnesotans who wanted to manufacture garden tools founded Mound Metalcraft in the basement of a local schoolhouse. In 1947, they acquired a competing company and inherited a toy steam shovel in the process. This gave them the idea of making toys. Using pressed steel, they designed a digger and a working “crane and clam.” After selling 37,000 units in the first year, the founders abandoned garden equipment and concentrated on making toys. […]
Silly Putty
Inducted Year: 2001
When the Japanese invasion of Asia threatened America’s rubber supply during World War II, chemists at General Electric began looking for a synthetic substitute. James Wright stumbled upon an odd concoction: a stretchy material that withstood decay and bounced 25 percent higher than rubber. When left untouched, this “solid liquid” flowed in slow motion and when struck sharply, it broke into pieces. Wright failed to find a wartime use for the goofy goo. Afterward, this “bouncing putty” or […]
