September 16th is more than just the most common birthday in the United States, it’s also National Play-Doh Day. Wahoo!<\/p>\n

When I was a little kid, the colorful compound was the forbidden fruit. My mother declared our home a play-doh free zone.\u00a0 Our kitchen and play space was carpeted. I don’t even know how to describe the very 1970’s floor covering we had, but even at a young age I could understand that if Play-Doh became ground in, there was no going back. Still, I remember playing with it at friends houses and how cool it was to squish it. The best was the pasta set and the cool garlic-press looking tool that allowed you to squish it into noodles. My type-A, symmetry loving self adored that. Who doesn’t love Play-Doh?<\/p>\n

Here are so fun facts about Play-Doh in honor of the occasion today.<\/p>\n

* Since it was first created in 1956, more than 950 million pounds,\u00a0 more than 2 billion cans, of Play-Doh have been molded, pounded, sculpted and squished by consumers. That is a crazy amount of Play-Doh.<\/a><\/p>\n

* If all that Play-Doh ever created was put through the Fun Factory Play-Doh accessory, it would create a strand of Play-Doh long enough to circle the Earth’s equator 300 times.<\/p>\n

* Playtime was not why Play-Doh was created. Rather, it was first meant to be wallpaper cleaner that was meant to be rolled along the wall and it came in only off white.<\/p>\n

* Play-Doh owes much of its initial popularity to Captain Kangaroo. Captain Kangaroo, also known as Bob Keeshan,\u00a0 cut a deal with the inventor of Play-Doh, Joe McVicker. The Captain agreed to feature Play-Doh on his show once a week in exchange for two percent of the sales because McVicker could not afford to buy commercial time.<\/p>\n

* Play-Doh is still a ridiculously popular product, with more than 100 million cans produced each year.<\/p>\n

* Red is the most popular color of Play-Doh, according to a survey. Red was one of three colors available, in addition to yellow and blue, when it was first for sale as a toy.<\/p>\n

* National Play-Doh Day has been celebrated on September 16 since 2006.<\/p>\n

* The exact ingredients of Play-Doh are secret. On its website<\/a>, Hasbro says, “The exact ingredients of PLAY-DOH compound are proprietary, so we cannot share them with you. We can tell you that it is primarily a mixture of water, salt and flour.” They also note that it contains wheat, but not other allergens like peanuts, peanut oil, or milk byproducts. It is not a food item and is not meant to be eaten.<\/p>\n

* Like all good things, Play-Doh doesn’t last forever. Hasbro cautions, “If allowed to harden (to preserve a creation) it will most likely crack.” Sigh. They suggest using another product if you’re looking to produce a creation that lasts. But really, isn’t part of the fun squishing your creation and starting all over again?<\/p>\n

In honor of National Play-Doh Day, Hasbro, the compound’s manufacturer, created Play-Doh sculptures of famous movies, from Monsters University to Mean Girls to Grease. You can see them all here<\/a>. While I love this Monsters University sculpture<\/p>\n

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the nod to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is my favorite.<\/p>\n

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