Crazy Aaron's
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| ISIN | 🆔 |
|---|---|
| Founded 📆 | 1998 in Pennsylvania |
| Founder 👔 | Aaron Muderick |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Norristown, Pennsylvania, |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Crazy Aaron's, also known as Crazy Aaron Enterprises, Inc., is a toy and sensory play company founded in 1998 by Aaron Muderick. Originally started from the basement of his parent's home in Pennsylvania. The first product consisted of plastic baggies containing one pound of a substance designed to be similar in feel to Silly Putty, a favorite toy from Muderick's childhood. The product was originally sold to friends, family, and co-workers at the software consulting firm where he worked. As the product became more popular, he began to color the product and friends began to call him 'Crazy Aaron'. They suggested he sell his products more broadly. After two and a half years of selling either from under his desk or the trunk of his car, he launched the company's first website, created the distinctive round metal tin packaging, and designed a brand name, Thinking Putty that featured a cartoon version of his head as the company logo.[1]
History[edit]
Crazy Aaron's was founded in 1998 in the basement of Aaron Muderick's parents home with the mission to create "innovative products that inspire curiosity and wonder and to educate and delight our customers."[2]
Bouncing Putty, also known by the brand name Silly Putty, had been a toy sensation when it launched in 1957 and had been a best seller for many decades. By the 1990s the toy had not kept up with changes in the taste of children nor had there been innovation in technology, packaging, or marketing of the product. Muderick felt putty could be more satisfying in its hand feel, available in large adult-sized handfuls, and be promoted to grown-ups for stress-relief and office play.
Over two and a half years, Muderick taught himself chemistry and the chemistry of making silicone putty. He learned how to make it more colorful, to add special effects, and how to cost-effectively sell it in larger quantities. He then launched a the company's first website called Crazy Aaron's Puttyworld. He used his personal connections as a software engineer to promote the idea of kidult office play to other tech-savvy office workers.[3]
In addition to a direct to consumer website, Crazy Aaron's also produced branded promotional products for the specialty advertising business. Muderick used his prior experience as a software engineer working with high-end computer printers to modify consumer-grade printers so he could make custom-labeled putty tins in his home.[4]
His business was propelled forward when the Wall Street Journal published a front page article in 2002 about adults who play with putty at their desks.[5]
The consumer interest generated by the press attention allowed Muderick to leave his day job in October 2002 and focus his efforts on growing the nascent business. The interest also began to take a toll on Muderick as he was mixing all of the putty by hand in a physically exhausting process. In addition he employed his wife, family members, friends, and even neighborhood children to apply stickers to the metal tins, weigh and cut the putty, and ship product to consumers.
Muderick's next innovation came in December 2002 with the release of the Illusions line of Thinking Putty. For the first time goniochromic pigments were successfully integrated into a silicone putty to create a mass that shifted color as it's shape was distorted during play.[6]In 2004, a line of Hypercolor Thinking Putty was released utilizing thermochromic pigments and effects pigments to create a putty that changed color in response to body heat.[7]
Also in 2003 the company began working with the disability community organizing its manufacturing practices such that individuals could complement their strengths and weaknesses in a group setting and, together, produce the Crazy Aaron products.[8]
The company continued to grow and innovate releasing the world's first magnetic putty, Strange Attractor for the Christmas season in 2007.[9] Liquid Glass, the crystal clear Thinking Putty, was released in 2010.[10]
By 2018, the company had 75 full-time employees and also employed over 700 individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities in the Philadelphia area who assisted in producing the company's products.[11]
At the start to the COVID-19 pandemic, Crazy Aaron's manufacturing operation was shuttered by order of the Governor as it was deemed a non-essential business. Within 3 business days from the closure, Crazy Aaron's shifted its manufacturing operations to produce hand sanitizer using materials it already had on hand for putty production. It supplied local first responders, health care providers, public utilities and local governments during the initial weeks of the crisis.[12]
The company began 2023 in its 25th year with a host of planned activities throughout the year to celebrate the milestone.
Sensory Play[edit]
Crazy Aaron's has long held that a fidget toy is not a distraction to doing actual work. Though many teachers and business leaders originally saw its products in that way. Over the years, the cultural expectation has shifted and fidget toys (soft and hard goods) have found major acceptance in school and work culture. It is now common for fidget toys such as the company's Thinking Putty products to be specifically assigned to children for use during school, studying, and learning.
Core products[edit]
- Thinking Putty
- Land of Dough
- XBall
- Scentsory Putty
References[edit]
- ↑ "Our Story". Crazy Aaron's. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ "Working at Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty". Glassdoor.
- ↑ "Rochester Review :: University of Rochester". www.rochester.edu.
- ↑ http://www.puttyforpromos.com/PPBMag_Profile_0610.pdf
- ↑ Warren, Susan. "Some Grown-Ups Go Silly For Buying Putty in Bulk". WSJ.
- ↑ "Home - www.puttyworld.com". November 23, 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-11-23.
- ↑ "Crazy Aaron's Puttyworld - Discover awesome stress toys and marketing gifts!". July 30, 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-07-30.
- ↑ "Narberth's 'Crazy' Aaron Muderick makes impression with designer toy". August 6, 2009.
- ↑ "Crazy Aaron's Puttyworld - Discover awesome stress toys, promotional products, and marketing gifts!". November 29, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-11-29.
- ↑ "Crystal Thinking Putty". September 21, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-09-21.
- ↑ "The People behind the Putty: Talking Shop with Crazy Aaron's Founder Aaron Muderick - Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health". www.devereux.org.
- ↑ Whitten, Sarah (4 August 2020). "From impulse purchase to scented stress relief: How Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty is surviving the pandemic". CNBC.
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 40°07′17.4″N 75°20′23.7″W / 40.121500°N 75.339917°W
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