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Notable people · Businessman · Toy

Joseph S. McVicker

Joseph McVicker joined his family's Kutol Products in Cincinnati in the 1950s to rescue it and turned the wallpaper-cleaner dough into the children's toy Play-Doh in 1956. He co-filed the Play-Doh patent (US 3,167,440) with Noah McVicker.

At a glance

Known as
Businessman, Toy
Organizations
Kutol Products, Rainbow Crafts

Life story

Joseph McVicker was the nephew of Noah McVicker. He joined Kutol Products in Cincinnati to keep the company from going under.

Kutol made a wallpaper cleaner that Noah created in the 1930s. In the mid-1950s the product was reworked as a modeling compound and marketed to Cincinnati schools, helped by nursery school teacher Kay Zufall.

In 1956 he co-founded Rainbow Crafts, which sold the compound as Play-Doh. He took it to an educational supply convention.

Rainbow Crafts received the patent in 1965, and General Mills bought the company for $3 million.

Timeline

  • 1930s: Noah McVicker creates the original wallpaper cleaner (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1955: Product reworked and marketed to Cincinnati schools (mid-1950s) (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1956: Rainbow Crafts formed; Woodward & Lothrop begins selling (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1957: Dr. Tien Liu reduces salt content (Ohio) source
  • 1965: Patent received; General Mills buys Rainbow Crafts for $3 million (United States) source

What Joseph is known for

  • Marketed Play-Doh as a toy, Cincinnati, 1956
  • Play-Doh
  • Rainbow Crafts Company (co-founder, 1956)
  • Patent 3,167,440 (existing record)

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Family

Ohio places

Where Joseph S. McVicker was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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