As requested by a number of viewers, here is the Raggedy Ann Colorforms commercial I remember from childhood. I have since discovered just how many different Colorforms kits were made, and I will share more of them over time.
Colorforms used colorful pieces of reusable vinyl that clung to smooth surfaces without glue. Children could dress the characters, rearrange the scenes, peel everything off and begin again. The Raggedy Ann kit shown in this 1967 commercial allowed kids to change her dresses and accessories as often as their imaginations allowed.
Colorforms began in 1951 after Harry and Patricia Kislevitz experimented with colorful vinyl originally used to make handbags. They discovered that the pieces clung to the glossy walls of their bathroom and began cutting them into different shapes. What started as a creative experiment soon became a successful toy.
FAO Schwarz placed an early order for 1,000 sets, helping turn the small project into a real company. The first kits featured basic geometric shapes, but licensed characters soon followed. Popeye became the first in 1957, opening the door for hundreds of television, comic book and movie characters.
Even the familiar Colorforms logo has an interesting history. Legendary graphic designer Paul Rand, who also designed logos for IBM, ABC and UPS, created it in 1959.
I also remember watching the local weather forecast as a child. The station used happy, smiling suns, large red H’s for high pressure and other colorful symbols that looked like oversized Colorforms.
Before computer-generated weather graphics, forecasters physically moved reusable symbols around a large map. Depending on the station, those symbols could be made from magnetic rubber, felt or another cling-on material. Whatever they were made from, they looked remarkably similar to the Colorforms we played with at home.
Maybe that is why those old weather maps remain so memorable. The smiling suns, rain clouds and giant H’s and L’s made the forecast feel like a giant Colorforms set coming to life on television.
Do you remember your local weather forecaster moving those colorful symbols around the map?
