Just a quick note. This episode is a little on the crude side.

Nothing too terrible, but if you have small kids you might want to listen to this one first

before you let them listen to it. Just to check it out.

All right, thanks. This is 99% invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

There was a rubber shortage in the U.S. during World War II because we were fighting Japan in many of the countries that supplied our rubber. So the government funded research into synthetic rubber

to make up the shortfall.

One of the products of this research was a new material made by mixing

boric acid and silicone oil. It could bounce and it could stretch. You know, it was rubbery. But sadly it could not be used to make tires or rafts or gas masks. It had no practical use at all. But a marketing consultant discovered that it was pretty fun to play with, so he put it in tiny plastic eggs and sold it as silly putty.

Hey, hey, it's silly putty time.

Yes, there are hours and hours of fun in the little egg that Silly Putty comes in.

We're surrounded by products that were designed for one purpose but found their true calling

in another line of work.

That is Amy Stanton co-host and co-creator of the new KQED podcast, The Leep.

Play-D. Play-D.

Play-D.

Both Viagra and Rogan were designed to lower blood pressure,

before they found their real purpose, making boners and growing hair.

In all of these cases the original designs were meant to solve big important problems

but they had to settle for less meaningful yet you know maybe slightly more delightful

roles in the world. But in rare cases the story goes the other way and something

designed to be a trifle, a gag, a joke, stumbles upon its true

...