In the 1930’s, Kutol Products, a Cincinnati soap company, recognized a need in the market.
At the time, most people heated their homes with coal stoves and the sooty residue from the coal made the area around the stove sticky and dirty.
Kutol researchers developed a doughy detergent that when formed into a ball, could be rolled over the dirty spots and remove the coal tar.
But by the end of World War Two, most homes had switched to gas heaters and covered their walls with easy to wash vinyl wallpaper so the demand for the coal cleaner disappeared.
Because the cleaner was a major source of profits, the company faced bankruptcy. The founder of the company had just been killed in a car accident and Joe, his 25-year-old, inexperienced son, now ran the business.
The son had warehouses full of unwanted products and saw no way forward when he received a phone call from his sister-in-law, Kay Zufall, in December 1954.
Kay operated a nursery school in New Jersey. She called to tell Joe how excited she was about the failed coal cleaner. She was looking for something the children could make into Christmas ornaments and discovered that the cleaning compound worked perfectly. It was softer than clay, non-toxic and stainless. The children loved it.
That’s when Joe decided to be creative. He removed the detergent from the product, added coloring and a pleasant almond scent and called it, “Kutol’s Rainbow Modeling Compound” He then prepared to sell it to schools and stores as a children’s play option.
Just before he went to market, his sister-in-law urged him to change the name. She said it was a dough that children could play with, so why not call it “Play Dough”.
Joe and Kay’s creative approach to a failed product saved the company. Since 1955, almost 3 billion cans of Play Dough have been sold.
God gave you a gift of creativity. Use it.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. NIV
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