Silly putty

[minniecarousel]

I bought silly putty for my grandson & saved the Sunday funnies to show him how you can transfer then distort faces from the newsprint. Problem is, it doesn’t pick up much of the ink. So is the ink less toxic or do we think that Silly Putty changed their formula? He’s having fun with it, but ol’ Grandma is disappointed!

 

[Kellykins1218]

The ink they use for the newspaper has changed.

 

[TCRAIG]

I bought silly putty for my grandson & saved the Sunday funnies to show him how you can transfer then distort faces from the newsprint. Problem is, it doesn’t pick up much of the ink. So is the ink less toxic or do we think that Silly Putty changed their formula? He’s having fun with it, but ol’ Grandma is disappointed!

I think Both - Ink and Putty formulas have been changed from back when us Grands were young...

 

[bcla]

The ink they use for the newspaper has changed.

The San Francisco Examiner used to have a series of humorous ads featuring Publisher Will Hearst. It included stuff like Hearst speeding through the streets of San Francisco in a delivery truck like the chase scene in Bullitt, and him hiring Hunter S. Thompson at a shooting range where he's taking target practice. However, one was pretty simple. They show him reading a copy of the Examiner while a voiceover of his inner thoughts is saying "What's the next big thing?" or something to that effect. Then they pan to his hands all covered in the ink that rubbed off from the newsprint. Then they have a graphic that says something about "Non-rub ink". This was maybe in the late 80s, so I'm pretty sure the technology has been around for a while.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

newsprint changed from petroleum based to vegetable oil based, and it doesn't stick to the silly putty as well. I remember what you are talking about from my childhood though, it used to work well. Black print sticks better than colored ink, did you try black ink as well?

 

[Micca]

In other news...Sunday funnies are still a thing???

 

[Kitty 34]

In other news...Sunday funnies are still a thing???

Loved Marmaduke back in the day!

 

[Floridaman999]

In other news...Sunday funnies are still a thing???

Heck, I didn't know silly putty was still a thing.

 

[JaxDad]

I usually get my comic strips from the internet. I tried Silly Putty on the computer screen, but it didn't work either.

 

[bcla]

And to think that General Electric put that much research into developing a children's toy.

 

[soccerdad72]

And to think that General Electric put that much research into developing a children's toy.

My understanding was that it was became a toy after it failed as a rubber substitute - in other words, it was an mistake that others found a market for (e.g. sticky notes).

I also thought it was developed by Dow Chemical - but I think there's some disagreement as to the original patent holder.

 

[soccerdad72]

And here's an article explaining why Silly Putty doesn't work the same way anymore:

http://archive.altweeklies.com/aan/silly-putty-doesnt-work-anymore/Story?oid=168408

 

[bcla]

My understanding was that it was became a toy after it failed as a rubber substitute - in other words, it was an mistake that others found a market for (e.g. sticky notes).

I also thought it was developed by Dow Chemical - but I think there's some disagreement as to the original patent holder.

Sure - I've heard there's a dispute over who first created the first industrial version of Silly Putty, which was from one of many attempts to create a substitute for natural rubber. However, Crayola's official history is that it was developed by James Wright (who worked at GE Plastics).

https://www.crayola.com/faq/your-history/can-you-tell-me-the-history-of-silly-putty/

 

[tvguy]

As I recall, if you roll silly putty up into a ball, it will bounce like a super ball.