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The Invention of Polymer Clay
Polymer clay was invented in 1939 by a German dollmaker named Fifi Rehbinder. Because of the political upheaval at that time Rehbinder had trouble obtaining supplies so she made her own form of clay that she used to sculpt doll heads. -
Selling the Idea
It wasn't until 1964 that the formula was sold to a manufacturer named Eberhard Faber. He refined the formula and created a brand of clay called Fimo that was sold in various toy stores in Europe. At that time it was mostly seen as a kids toy. -
Polyform
In the 1960s an American company accidentally made a form of Polymer Clay while trying to develop a product that was able to be used as a thermal transfer compound. It wasn't until someone pointed out that it could be used for arts and crafts that they started selling it under the name of Polyform. -
Introduction to the United States
A family in the US that had immigrated from Germany received a gift of Fimo from a relative back in Germany. Friends and neighbors of the Shaup family had started asking about the clay and in 1975 the family began to import Fimo into the United States and American companies soon began to do the same. -
Sculpley Pigmented Clay
Sculpey, previously known as polyform, developed a colored line of clay in 1984. Before that artists had to add their own pigment to the white clay to make sculptures out of different colors. -
Present Day Clay
Clay sculpting is very popular today and over the years many more brands such as Crayola and Premo have made their own lines of clay. Today we have many types of clay such as glitter clay and glow-in-the-dark clay that are used for clay sculpting.