Good morning, it’s Monday.
I hope you got outside for some or even most of this past weekend. It was beyond glorious. And I got to spend some time at one of my favorite places – Mohonk Mountain House – raising money to preserve and protect an incredible landscape, hopefully in perpetuity.
I also got to spend some quality time with my mom and step-dad, whom I hadn’t seen for well over a month because they were on an extended cruise – first to Iceland and Greenland, and then to New Brunswick. They had a great time, though I don’t think they’ll be joining the ranks of retirees to give up their landlocked lifestyle to cruise permanently.
Being in my childhood home is always a nostalgic experience. Though it doesn’t really look anything like it did while I was growing up, it still brings back a lot of memories. Some happy. Some not so much. Overall, though, I was a very lucky child. We traveled a lot. I wanted for nothing – including many, many toys, thanks in no small part to my doting grandparents.
I was a big fan of some of the classics – Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Checkers, Connect Four. I was not, however, a big Play-Doh kid. I had Play-Doh, don’t get me wrong, and I do remember enjoying the time I spent with it, but I don’t remember spending all that MUCH time with it, is the thing.
I think part of the problem was that I didn’t really know what to do with it. It wasn’t the greatest artistic media. (Technically speaking, it’s a modeling compound, FWIW). It tried out easily if you accidentally left the cap off the can, which, of course, I did on the regular. Mixing colors often led to a gigantic mess. Also, little pieces would get everywhere, which made cleaning up a pain.
It appears that I am vastly in the minority on this one, because Play-Doh is enormously successful and has been for many years, selling some 3 billion cans since its debut in 1956. The brand is pretty much ubiquitous, and it’s also the top-selling item in the arts and crafts category in the U.S. as well in several other of the 75 countries where it is sold.
“Urban legend has it that if you took all of the Play-Doh compound created since 1956 and put it through the Play-Doh Fun Factory playset, you could make a snake that would wrap around the world 300 times,” Hasbro, which bought Play-Doh in 1991 and continues to manufacture it today, claims on the official Play-Doh website.
Play-Doh is so iconic that it was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 1998. The funny thing about this unassuming yet incredibly popular toy/young artists’ medium is that its creation was a total accident – in fact, it started out life in a rather ignominious fashion as wallpaper cleaner.
Originally manufactured by Kutol Products, a Cincinnati-based company, the soft, pliable compound that was originally used to remove soot from wallpaper was actually losing steam, thanks to the switch from dirty coal-fueled homes to the cleaner electric and gas.
Company legend has it that Kay Zufall, the sister-in-law of one of Kutol’s principles, happened upon an article about how wallpaper cleaning compound could be repurposed for modeling projects. She also happened to be a nursery school teacher, and decided to test out the material on her students.
They loved it. And hence, Play-Doh (the name was also her idea) was born. Happy National Play-Doh Day!
Play-Doh was originally only available in white, but the company soon branched out into red, blue and yellow. Today, though, that has exploded into a massive palette – including glittery and metallic versions.
When I Googled “Play-Doh” I came up with all manner of gadgets and doodads, none of which I recognized – except, of course, for the Fun Factory, which is still around after all this time. You can get all manner of kits and sets – from an “ice cream machine” to a pizza delivery set-up. Kids today don’t have any idea how great they have it.
For the record, Play-Doh is salty because it contains, well, salt, which helps its other ingredients stick together and stay moist. You can make Play-Doh yourself, which makes it safer, but not advisable, to consume. The truth is that while Play-Doh is nontoxic, if someone consumes a sizable amount of it, they will likely experience gastrointestinal distress.
There will be some areas of patchy fog about this morning, but those will clear right up and make way for another mostly sunny day with temperatures in the low 80s. More of this please, and thanks.
In the headlines…
Former President Donald Trump is safe after what the F.B.I. said appeared to be “an attempted assassination” at his Florida golf club yesterday. The episode came less than two months after he was wounded during an attempt on his life at a Pennsylvania rally.
Secret Service agents fired at the suspect, multiple sources said. A local sheriff’s office says it has taken a person into custody – Ryan Wesley Routh – after the gunfire at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
A Secret Service agent was one hole ahead of Trump while he was golfing and spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a fence in the golf club, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County said.
Trump thanked the Secret Service, law enforcement and Bradshaw for keeping him safe. In a post on his social media website, Truth Social, he called their work outstanding.
That a gunman got close to Trump for the second time in about two months intensified questions about the agency’s broader protective capabilities.
Routh is a self-employed affordable housing builder in Hawaii who went on social media to weigh in on politics and current events, at times criticizing the former president.
Routh has a lengthy criminal record from North Carolina, frequently posted about politics and exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019.
A man believed to be Routh was arrested in North Carolina in 2002 after an armed standoff with police officers, the Greensboro News & Record reported.
Routh also told The New York Times in 2023 that he had traveled to Ukraine and wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight there.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on social media: “I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”
Seventeen Republicans who worked under former President Reagan endorsed Harris, her campaign announced in a press release.
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance did not back away from the false claims he and Trump have been making that Haitians in an Ohio community are abducting and eating pets, even as the state’s GOP governor and other officials insist it’s untrue.
At his first major campaign event for Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told a crowd on Saturday night that he was being investigated for his handling of a whale carcass decades ago.
Gov. Kathy Hochul released a new video revealing she was back to work after undergoing an outpatient procedure for skin cancer on Friday morning.
The Times Union found many police departments across the country dispose of illegal drugs through methods that raise health, environmental and public safety concerns and, in some places, may break the law.
Linda Sun, the alleged Chinese spy who infiltrated the New York governor’s office, was able to get into the White House for a tour facilitated by Rep. Grace Meng’s office – while Sun was under federal investigation.
Even before Sun was charged this month with using her position to benefit the Chinese government, suspected cases of Chinese foreign meddling had been on the rise in Western democracies.
Mayor Eric Adams’ top City Hall attorney, Lisa Zornberg, has resigned — the most significant development yet in the fast-moving scandal engulfing his administration. Adams’ team announced her departure late Saturday with no explanation about the move.
The mayor’s office provided Zornberg’s resignation letter, which offered little explanation as to why she left. “I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position,” the letter said.
The resignation of Zornberg — a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who has been City Hall’s lead lawyer since July 2023 — left observers more concerned about Adam’s faltering administration, which is reeling from recent federal raids targeting top aides.
The flurry of federal investigative activity last week sent tremors through City Hall, raising questions about how they would affect Adams’ ability to govern effectively and offering new fodder for a growing roster of opponents as he heads into a mayoral election.
As federal investigations swirl around Adams, his political influence, his agenda and his re-election effort are at risk.
Terence Banks, the brother of two high-ranking members of Adams’ inner circle, claimed he worked with a company that said it had no record of having done business with him and another that said he promised access that never came.
Jessica Ramos, a progressive New York State senator from Queens, announced early Friday that she was entering the race to unseat Adams in next year’s Democratic primary.
Violent crime is spiking in the Big Apple’s busiest tourist hub — even as Adams is set to deliver a State of the City speech raving about how much safer the five boroughs are.
Hundreds of padlocked pot shops found guilty of breaking the law in the Big Apple have avoided paying millions of dollars in fines, a City Council analysis shows.
Standing in a room drenched in red and blue lighting, Jordan Coleman, the 29-year-old son of Mayor Adams who released his debut rap album last year under the moniker, Jayoo, commemorated 9/11 by recording music inside Gracie Mansion.
A late-summer afternoon at an elevated subway station in Brooklyn exploded in chaos yesterday as a police officer, a disturbed man armed with a knife and two bystanders were struck by police gunfire, the police said.
Cops said the bloody encounter in Brownsville started shortly after 3 p.m. when cops confronted a farebeater at the L line station on Sutter Avenue, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press briefing.
The MTA is expanding its automated camera enforcement of bus stops and double parking to 20 more bus routes across the five boroughs this month.
Some Queens residents will be getting their first-ever public pool — which locals consider a much-needed refuge from the summer heat — as part of a $46.1 million state investment to expand swimming in the boroughs.
The largest insurer of taxis and Ubers in New York City is on the verge of a financial collapse that could force thousands of cars out of service and lead to higher costs for drivers and passengers.
The insurer, American Transit Insurance Company, provides coverage for about 74,000 for-hire vehicles in the city, or more than 60 percent of the available cars, according to city records.The company recent reported that it is insolvent.
Academic and business experts who have studied the economic impact of casinos have urged more skepticism and expressed doubt about the high hopes for jobs attached to the $12 billion Hudson Yards West proposal by Wynn.
New Yorkers are spending billions on houses in flood-prone areas despite growing awareness of the effects of climate change.
The troubled MDC Brooklyn jail will no longer take inmates serving sentences, a major policy shift after a judge threatened to vacate one man’s sentence if he was sent to the notorious lockup.
The union representing nurses at Albany Medical Center hospital have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over a survey the state Department of Health conducted but which union officials have not yet seen.
The State University of New York Research Foundation has settled a lawsuit alleging that a University at Albany researcher failed to disclose support from a foreign government in connection with federal research funding, according to the Department of Justice.
The state attorney general’s office has launched an investigation into the death of a 48-year-old man who was shot and killed Wednesday by State Police.
A fire at the Spier Falls Dam on the Hudson River burned for hours Saturday as over nearly a dozen fire companies tried to bring it under control.
A fire in Indian Ladder Farms’ kitchen Saturday night has temporarily ended a seasonal rite of passage there — the making of cider doughnuts.
The 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards were handed last night, with Hacks taking home a surprise best comedy series win. In addition, the show’s star Jean Smart won best actress in a comedy series.
Hacks was a surprise winner over The Bear, which won best comedy series last year and did collect four other big wins, including acting nods for three of the show’s castmembers.
Shogun, The Bear, and Baby Reindeer led the night with four wins each, but there were a ton of winners from a wide range of shows. The full list of winner can be found here.
Photo credit: George Fazio (Jazz Fest, ’24).
