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Play-Doh -- it's the sweetest-smelling substance this side of chocolate itself.
Both Play-Doh and chocolate provide excellent stress relief. Both have been molded into bunnies, eggs and Star Wars figures. Both have been shaped into birthday cakes.
But one you squish between your fingers and the other you eat. It's best not to confuse which is which.
I had Play-Doh on the brain (and dried Play-Doh crumbles mashed into the carpet) because the modeling compound and I -- an outmoded compound -- celebrate our birthdays on the same day.
On Friday, National Play-Doh Day, the great goo turned 60.
I did not -- although there's barely enough room to wiggle a Play-Doh snake between that number and mine.
I celebrated with chocolate cake. And by popping the top off some yellow cans and inhaling that awesome Play-Doh scent. Bliss.
Then I sculpted a clown, a duck and a bear. I would have made more but my boss was growing agitated. She doesn't think Fun Factory is part of my job description.
She ought to stop and sniff the Doh. I always keep a couple cans in my desk to calm my nerves.
"Think about it," nurse Ani Burr wrote a while back in Scrubs online magazine. "It's colorful and fun, squishy, but not messy, and it's got that oh-so-comforting smell that takes you back to the safe days of kindergarten and playtime."
Plus, if you get really frustrated, you can smack it into a ball and zing it at somebody. (My boss does not recommend this.)
Play-Doh began its career as wallpaper cleaner in the sooty days of coal furnaces. Then natural gas took over and the cleaning putty company was about to fold. Then Joe McVicker, nephew of inventor Noah McVicker, repackaged it as a modeling compound for kids. In 1956, the McVickers formed the Rainbow Crafts Company to make and sell -- ta-dah! -- Play-Doh.
Since then, kids -- and adults (c'mon, 'fess up) have played with 700 million pounds of Play-Doh, according to one estimate.
In 1998, Play-Doh was inducted in the first class of the newly formed National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y.
Other inductees in the initial class included the Etch A Sketch, Crayola crayons, Tinker Toys, marbles and the teddy bear. They've been joined by Slinky (2000), Silly Putty (2001), cardboard boxes (2005), sticks (2008), rubber ducks (2013) and little green army men (2014).
In all, 59 toys have been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame since 1998. The nominees for this year, announced last week, include Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, coloring books, bubble wrap, Fisher-Price Little People, Uno and the swing. They're all fine choices.
Chocolate is not in the Hall of Fame, probably because our moms always said, "Don't play with your food!" Still, I think chocolate should be included with all toys, don't you?
But Play-Doh is a classic. (If "classic" means old, then I'm one, too.)
So help us celebrate. Grab some chocolate cake and a few tubs of Play-Doh. But be careful. You don't want to mix up which one to squish and which to snack on.
—- Send Cole pictures of your Play-Doh creations at burtseyeview@tribtoday.com or on the Burton W. Cole page on Facebook.