The Retro Blog

Like a lot of great inventions, Silly Putty was a complete accident. Researchers were attempting to invent a new rubber substitute because of a shortage during World War II. Instead they found a fun way to squash and stretch images from the funny pages. Marketed as a toy since 1950, Silly Putty is still adored today.

It’s actually a pretty amazing substance in that it’s a solid in the short term, but a viscous liquid over the long term. Course I never let any Silly Putty sit around long enough to form a puddle. It’s just too fun bouncing it to just let it sit there. Apparently Silly Putty is being used to study the strain-rate dependence of polymers because of its rheological properties. No, I don’t know what that means.  Also Silly Putty went to the moon with the astronauts of Apollo 8. Don’t you just feel horrible now. That neutral colored lump has accomplished way more than you.

As a little one I had tubes in my ears to prevent infections. I remember my mom putting Silly Putty in my ears to keep them from getting wet when I swam. Thanks to the internet, I now know IT’S VERY BAD TO PUT SILLY PUTTY IN YOUR EAR. In fact, it now explicitly warns against this on the package. I’m still alive though, in case you’re wondering how that all worked out.

Sadly, changes in printing processes make it quite difficult to find any comics that will actually stick to your putty, but a good old-fashioned pencil should still work, so get drawing! It’s also now available as a five pound block, which the website claims is “a great conversation piece.” Perhaps that conversation will be about how the giant lumpy blob seems to have absorbed the cat.