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The U.S. of Play - Part 2: Silly Putty, Twister and Monopoly
Brief
This episode of Imaginary Worlds traces how three iconic playthings — Silly Putty, Twister and Monopoly — moved between adult worlds and childhood, and how marketing, politics and culture shaped their meanings. Eric Malinsky opens with Silly Putty’s wartime origin: GE chemist James Wright stumbled on a non‑decaying, viscoelastic material while trying to make synthetic rubber during WWII. Peter Hodgson turned that lab curiosity into a novelty toy in 1950, packaging it in plastic eggs; a New Yorker 'Talk of the Town' item triggered more than 250,000 orders. Michelle Parnett Dwyer and Tim Walsh note both practical and whimsical uses — from table-leveling to Apollo 8 astronauts carrying putty into orbit in 1968 to hold tools temporarily — demonstrating how an accidental polymer crossed domains.
The narrative then follows Twister’s arc from Ren Gwyer’s mid‑1960s promotional mat game (originally “King’s Footsie”) to a national sensation. Merrick Stolley and Milton Bradley executive Mel Taft’s recollections show the commercial hurdles — manufacturing a vinyl mat and overcoming moral panic — and how a Tonight Show moment with Johnny Carson and Ava Gabor in 1966 reversed Sears’ rejection and propelled production to roughly 40,000 boxes per day by Christmas 1966. The hosts and guests frame Twister as “sex in a box,” emblematic of the 1960s cultural shift from taboo to mainstream.
Monopoly provides the episode’s most overtly political thread. Merrick Stolley and Tim Walsh retell Elizabeth 'Lizzie' McGee’s Landlord’s Game (early 20th century) as a pedagogical critique of capitalism with alternate cooperative rules that were gradually lost as bootleg copies proliferated. Charles Darrow’s 1935 sale to Parker Brothers, the $500 payment to Lizzie (≈$12,000 today), and wartime spycraft — British intelligence’s doctored Monopoly X sets that helped thousands of POWs escape — show the game’s tangled history. Roman Abramov contributes a striking counterpoint describing Soviet-era homemade and later 'Manager' variants that reworked Monopoly’s spaces into factories, airports and cooperative mechanics. Across interviews the episode emphasizes continuity: these toys are shaped by social anxieties, entrepreneurial spin and cultural reinterpretation, so a simple plaything can become a mirror for war, sex, politics and economic critique.
Why it matters
Silly Putty was discovered by GE chemist James Wright during WWII rubber-replacement research; Peter Hodgson commercialized it as “Silly Putty,” packaging it in plastic eggs and — after a 1950 New Yorker 'Talk of the Town' mention — received more than 250,000 orders (Michelle Parnett Dwyer; Tim Walsh; Eric Malinsky).
Key details
- Apollo 8 astronauts carried Silly Putty into lunar orbit in 1968 and used it aboard the spacecraft as a temporary tool-holder (Eric Malinsky reporting Michelle Parnett Dwyer).
- Twister began as Ren Gwyer’s mid-1960s promotional mat game called King's Footsie; Milton Bradley released it in 1966 after exec Mel Taft fought for it, Sears initially rejected it as too risqué, and a Tonight Show demo with Johnny Carson and Ava Gabor caused demand that pushed Milton Bradley to produce about 40,000 boxes a day by Christmas 1966 (Ren Gwyer; Mel Taft; Merrick Stolley; Eric Malinsky).
- Elizabeth 'Lizzie' McGee (called Lizzie McGee in the episode) created the Landlord's Game around the turn of the 20th century as an educational/protest tool; multiple folk versions proliferated, Charles Darrow later sold a version to Parker Brothers in 1935, and Parker Brothers ultimately paid Lizzie $500 (about $12,000 today) for rights (Merrick Stolley; Tim Walsh; Eric Malinsky).
- During WWII British intelligence doctored Monopoly sets (Operation 'Monopoly X') with hidden maps, compasses and files to help POW escapes; thousands of prisoners used modified Monopoly to escape (Merrick Stolley; Eric Malinsky).
- Monopoly evolved into global cultural freight: a 1973 satirical 'Anti-Monopoly' triggered litigation and a Parker Brothers response (including burying 40,000 copies), the game was remade and reinvented behind the Iron Curtain (Roman Abramov describes homemade Soviet variants and the late-1980s 'Manager'), and Monopoly is now played in 113 countries (Roman Abramov; Merrick Stolley).