#SILLY PUTTY RECIPE AUSTRALIA FULL#

Air Force veteran who holds more than 120 patents, went on to harness that air pressure via an arm-pumping action to create a high-velocity water gun that far outperformed any other on the toy market. Johnson, a Tuskegee University graduate and U.S. The backstory: Johnson was working as a spacecraft systems engineer on the Galileo mission to Jupiter in 1982 when an accident prompted an epiphany: After a prototype for a heat pump sprang a leak, shooting a blast of water across the room, he immediately saw the squirt gun potential. Who invented it: Nuclear engineer and part-time inventor Lonnie Johnson, who had an accident with a heat pump What it is: A high-power water gun that claimed to be able to shoot water up to 50 feet away Sales picked back up somewhat with the advent of new versions, including one featuring ball bearings inside that made a “whoosh” sound.įabian Posselt/ullstein bild via Getty Images Super Soaker (For its part, the Soviet Union banned the toy as a symbol of “the indecency of American culture.”) But success was hard to sustain: After selling an estimated 100 million Hula Hoops in the first year, the market was saturated. Their timing couldn't have been better, since the ascendancy of rock 'n' roll-and Elvis Presley's infamous hips-were inspiring youth to want to gyrate their own.

Nineteenth-century British sailors are credited with marrying the idea of 'hooping' with 'hula' after encountering Hawaiian dancers in their travels. But it was the sight of an Australian version that inspired Melin and Knerr to manufacture and market the Hula Hoop. (Think workout gear for the robe and sandal set.) And for centuries, children worldwide found entertainment spinning simple wooden hoops by hand or stick. Hoop toys date back at least as far as the ancient Greeks. Melin and his partner William Knerr didn't exactly invent the idea. The backstory: In one of the most meteoric launches in toy history, the Hula Hoop sold an estimated 25 million units within just four months of its 1958 debut. Who invented it: Arthur 'Spud' Melin, co-founder of novelty toy company Wham-O, patented his iteration of a centuries-old idea in 1958 What it is: A brightly colored plastic hoop designed to be twirled around the waist

#SILLY PUTTY RECIPE AUSTRALIA FULL#

WATCH: Full episodes of 'The Toys That Built America' online. Silly Putty now has a spot in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. After marketer Peter Hodgson brought the invention to the masses in 1950, it became a hit, and Crayola acquired the brand in 1977. His mix of boric acid with silicone didn't work for that purpose, but the resulting putty caught the interest of a toy store owner, who saw playful possibilities in the fact that it was bouncy, stretchy and moldable. government project to discover a rubber substitute. The backstory: Wright accidentally discovered the compound for Silly Putty in 1943, when he was working on a World War II-era U.S. Who invented it: General Electric engineer James Wright, who was trying to replicate rubber What It is: A stretchy pink glob that comes in a plastic egg But those famous novelty toys didn't start out as products intended for kids.įailed experiments, re-imaginations and unexpected inspirations are behind the story of seven of America's most beloved toys-all of which have continued to see stellar sales decades after first hitting the market. Many childhood memories include hours spent molding Play-Doh, or watching a Slinky glide down the stairs, or marveling at the transfer of a newspaper comic to a simple wad of Silly Putty.

Silly putty recipe australia