Parents baffled over popular Play-Doh kids toy that was invented for very different reason

Parents are baffled after finding out what their children's beloved Play-Doh was originally invented for - and it's far from what you might think.

Since the 1950s, Play-Doh has been a belovedactivity for kids across the nation - we still remember the days of accidentally mixing the colours to resemble a brown hue, or sculpting out various animals in what we believed to be a masterpiece at the time.

Play-Doh provides endless entertainment for kids with its array of squishy colours and ever-growing accessories to sculpt, create and make anything that comes to mind - not to mention it's a great sensory experience.

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But long before it burst onto the scene as the ultimate kids' activity, the Hasbro-owned Play-Doh was originally created as a wall cleaner.

The soft putty was first launched during the 1930s and was promoted as an effective way to remove coal residue and soot stains from walls inside the home.

It was first invented by Noah McVicker for Cincinnati-based soap manufacturer Kutol Products when most people used coal to heat their homes.

The idea was to stamp the substance onto wallpaper that had been stained by soot to absorb and remove the unwanted dark stains.

So why did it switch from a cleaning product to a kids' toy?

By the 1950s, the need for a product that cleaned soot off the wallpaper had dropped significantly.

More and more people were using alternative heating measures instead of coal, and so, the demand for the cleaning putty crashed.

Instead of axing the putty altogether, it was reinvented as a children's toy, known today as the beloved Play-Doh.

It was the nephew of the inventor, Joe McVicker, who sparked the idea of transforming the clay into a toy.

In a video shared on @fascinating_historic_world, it explained: "When schools started using the non-toxic cleaning compound for children's art projects, the company rebranded their wallpaper cleaner as the world's most popular children's toy and creative medium."

Parents and fans of Play-Doh were left baffled by the realisation and flooded to the comments on the Instagram post.

One wrote: "Just looked up all these products up. Cannot believe this is all true, but I shouldn't be surprised. There was a time where cocaine was used as sinus medicine so I should not be surprised."

A second jokingly said: "Play Doh: Back when wallpaper was made of actual paper."

While a third noted: "I knew it! When I played with Play-Doh. I always thought it smelled very industrial."

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