099 Shrinky Dinks: How Two Moms Created a 70s Toy Craze

Remember the absolute magic of watching a piece of plastic shrivel up and flatten out in your mom’s oven? In this episode of the Mid Century Vault, Philip Mershon travels back to a rainy Saturday afternoon in 1974 to bake up the incredible history of Shrinky Dinks! Born out of a simple creative need on a kitchen table in Brookfield, Wisconsin, two housewives (Betty Morris and Kathryn Bloomberg) turned a local Cub Scout craft project into a 1970s toy phenomenon. But there’s a twist in the Shrinky Dink origin story that most people forgot: the Wham-O Shrink Machine. Why did Wham-O's version fail while Shrinky Dinks went on to rule the 1970s and 1980s? Philip breaks down the toy box economics, the battle of the plug-in toys (featuring the Easy-Bake Oven and Mattel's Thingmaker), and the brilliant simplicity that made Shrinky Dinks a certified pop-culture legend. 💬 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Did you make Shrinky Dinks as a kid? What was your ultimate masterpiece? Let us know in the comments below! 🚀 HELP US REACH 100K SUBSCRIBERS! If you love retro toys, mid-century history, and nostalgia, hit that SUBSCRIBE button and give this video a thumbs up! #ShrinkyDinks #VintageToys #1970sNostalgia #ToyHistory #RetroToys #MidCenturyVault #PopCultureHistory #WhamO