Silly Me
Ah, the joy of Unintended Results. Had the Japanese not conquered Thailand and Indonesia during World War II, I wouldn’t have ended up with my favorite childhood toy.
Those two countries had previously supplied the U.S. with 90% of its natural rubber from their plantations. Once we declared war on Japan, our rubber supply, crucial for the production of automobile tires, was cut off. We began producing synthetic rubber to solve the problem, but it was very expensive: it turns out that the severe gas rationing during that time had nothing to do with any gas shortage. It was to stop people from driving so much that they'd wear out their tires.
It was engineer James Wright, working in a General Electric lab during the war, who tried to create an inexpensive substitute for synthetic rubber when he dropped boric acid into silicone oil. The Unintended Result was a substance far stretchier and bouncier than rubber, which unfortunately made it useless for tire production, but was a big hit with his two young children. They could roll it, stretch it, bounce it, mold it like clay into animal shapes. Even more fun, they could press it onto a newspaper comic strip and make a perfect duplicate.
It was the same dough-like putty that was commonly used by woodworkers and construction workers. But rather than using it to fill cracks in woodwork or create waterproof seals, my friends and I made fools of ourselves stretching it in every conceivable way, and also one inconceivable way when my pal Andy stuffed a wad up a nostril and then withdrew it slowly, stretching and stretching it as he pulled it out. That day he gave the expression “picking your nose” a far more disgusting visual than usual!
All the commercials for this putty emphasized how much crazy fun kids could have with it. The obvious melodic name choice should have been “Nutty Putty”, but as you surely know it has always been marketed as “Silly Putty.” Perhaps “nutty” was off-limits because of negative mental health concerns.But I’d like to think not. It seems to me that “Silly”was the perfect adjective for it. Most classic toys are created to generate fun; this one was all about being silly. And there’s a subtle difference between fun and silliness.
Serious things can be fun, (think reading a book, hiking a mountain, or solving a puzzle), but silliness is all about getting enjoyment out of acting goofy, absurd, and playful. Silly Putty was a passport back to my toddler days when I was learning how to show off for attention. My parents would see me make a face or do something daffy and dotingly exclaim: “You’re so SILLY!”
That being said, I must also note that Silly Putty has had some very serious uses as well. Remember the “Earthrise” photo taken by an Apollo 8 astronaut in 1968, showing our glorious blue planet peeking out from the lunar surface? That was the first mission when a manned spacecraft left earth’s orbit to circle the moon. Zero gravity in the cabin proved to be a challenge for the astronauts, with tools and equipment floating loose about the cabin. Silly Putty was packed aboard the command module as an emergency utility to secure those tools. Mission Control issued a press release stating that the putty served double duty because it also entertained the bored astronauts during their downtime.
Speaking of the Apollo 8 mission, it’s heartwarming to remember that all Americans were united in our pride over this monumental accomplishment. This was the space voyage when the crew read the first ten verses of the book of Genesis during a live television broadcast, which was viewed by a stunning billion people. Our globe felt much more at one back then.
And so there was a strong spiritual component to this already other-worldly event. One astronaut spoke of this Apollo 8 mission as a uniquely blessed occasion. The Old English word for “blessed” was “saelig”, from which our modern word “silly” derives. Our linguistic ancestors saw the connection between feeling blessed and feeling silly. Both involve deep joy and gratitude for feeling the divine mirth and lightness of those states. What we desperately need today is a putty that holds us together in the precious bond of our common humanity.
Email Elliot at huffam@me.com or click here