By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – War, scandal, and a stale economy are just a few things dominating the news - but not here. So, for a little diversion, here's some toy trivia. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Crayola Crayons is pulling out all the colors this year (160 to be exact) for its centennial birthday. Susan Tucker, spokeswoman for Binney and Smith, maker of Crayola, couldn't give me any sales figures for the 100 years. In 1984 the company became privately owned by Hallmark. But since the first box of eight sold for a nickel, 120 billion individual crayons have been bought. Tucker was very proud that that was enough to cover the world 200 times. And that box of eight goes for a buck today.
Another one of Binney and Smith's big seller is Silly Putty. It was during World War II when General Electric Company was trying some way to come up with a substitute for rubber and instead founded - the little plastic egg. Since 1950, more than 300 million have been sold. That's over 4500 tons. Everyone uses Silly Putty now, from athletes to artists to therapists and astronauts. Yes, the Apollo 8 mission took some Silly Putty with them, in a specially designed sterling egg. Not only did it help fasten down tools during the weightless period but, as an added treat, the astronauts got to play with it. So what do you do with sterling silver eggs on earth? Why, put 'em in the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog and sell the limited-edition Silly Putty for $75 each.
According to about.com, Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on television; Lincoln Logs were developed by the son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright; and almost $40 billion in Monopoly money is printed every year. And since it's been a few years since I've played Monopoly, I was curious: Has the price of property gone up? Hasbro spokesman Mark Morris told me, "Nope, inflation is not a factor."
For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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