Outline Needlework Done On Useful Items

Outline embroidery, sometimes referred to as “etching on linen,” was a popular pastime of the late 1800s for the ladies who liked to do needlework.

Designs were published in popular magazines of the day, such as the Art Amateur magazine and Harper’s Weekly and Godey’s Lady’s Book. The designs were, simply, pictures which looked much the same as if they had been drawn with pen and ink. Popular subjects were children - Kate Greenaway designs and nursery rhyme characters were typical. There was also an assortment of vases, teapots, flowers and other motifs taken from old pottery pieces. One series of designs was a set of household scenes. Another series, somewhat surprising for that period of time, was the signs of the Zodiac.

The designs were worked with red, blue or green thread on white or ivory colored tablecloths, napkins, towels, pillow cases and other household items.

These items were designed to be used regularly, and one doesn’t find the elegant elaborate stitchery used in other kinds of needlework, but that also makes them less expensive to collect - and they’re still very usable.

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Cannon Warning To Offer Storm Alert

In 1886, thought was given to establishing a national storm warning system for farmers. Cannons would be fired at federal locations, such as post offices, to warn of approaching storms, flood or frost.

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Wallpaper ‘Cleaner’ Was Just The Thing For Kids

It started out as a substance to clean wallpaper, and ended up as one of America’s most popular children’s playthings.

Until about 1950, the majority of homes in this country were heated by coal. It was much less expensive than wood and produced almost four times as much energy. But there was a downside – it left a sooty film on everything. Part of the Spring cleaning for most housewives was getting the coal grime off the various surfaces of their home.

Soap and water worked fine on painted walls, ceilings and woodwork, but it didn’t work well at all on wallpaper.

Enter a soap making company named Kutol Products. In 1927, it was rapidly losing business for its powdered soap products and the owners decided to liquidate their remaining product. However, the young man, N.W. McVicker, who was hired as a salesman for this process, turned out to be a super salesman, and instead of promoting an unpopular soap product, he convinced the large Kroger grocery chain to place an order for Kutol’s wallpaper cleaner.

Kroger placed an order for 15,000 cases of the product. The catch? At that time, it didn’t exist. McVicker headed back to the home plant and a formula for a wallpaper cleaner was developed in time to get the order out in a timely fashion. It was a good product, consisting primarily of flour, salt and a detergent, and the company was back in business.

Good sales existed until the mid-1940s. Following World War II, oil and gas furnaces became used in more homes, and the soot problem was gone where they were installed. At the same time, vinyl wallpaper came into use, and it could be washed with soap and water. Kutol was left with a product that no one needed any more.

Forward now to 1954. Kutol was now owned by Joe McVicker, a nephew of N.W. His sister-in-law, Kay, ran a community nursery and was looking for an inexpensive way to have the children make ornaments for Christmas decorating. She had read an article indicating wallpaper paste could be used; a trip to the local hardware store unearthed one can that she could purchase.

The kids loved it. They rolled it out and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters, put a hole in the top, and Kay baked them in the oven. It worked beautifully. Kay called Joe and excitedly announced she had a new use for their wallpaper cleaner.

It was so simple. The product was non-toxic. It didn’t stain. The detergents were removed and a coloring material was added. It was mixed up in the commercial-size bread machines the company already had, the same ones they’d been using for 22 years, and in almost no time at all, a new product was ready for the market.

Joe was going to call it Kutol’s Rainbow Modeling Compound. Sister-in-law Kay disagreed and she and her husband together came up with the name by which it’s known world-wide: Play-Doh.

The original product was sold in gallon cans, with lids indicating one of the three colors inside – red, yellow or blue. The large cans were used because the original assumption was that it would be sold to schools. However, once Joe took the product to a trade show, companies such as Macy’s recognized that it would sell well as a retail product and the familiar small Play-Doh cans, usually sold as a three-pack, were introduced.

The next breakthrough came when super-salesman Joe convinced Bob Keeshan, otherwise known as Captain Kangaroo, to feature it once a week on his children’s show, in exchange for two per cent of the sales. Captain Kangaroo liked the product so much, he featured it three times a week; then the product was advertised on Ding Dong School and Romper Room, two other popular children’s programs of the 1950s and 1960s. Soon the company (renamed Rainbow Crafts) had a 16-month backlog of orders.

Eventually, the company was sold to General Mills (remember, the basic ingredient is flour,) and in 1991, Hasbro bought it. Now about 100 million cans a year are sold in about 75 countries around the world. It has changed little since the 1950s, although General Mills added four additional colors in the 1980s.

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