My father, William Henry "Bill" Haynes, ran Silly Putty Marketing (aka Arnold Clark) for most of his life*. His name, however, never shows up anywhere in the written history of Silly Putty. This would be fine for him as he was a humble man. He taught us not to toot our own horns. We never bragged about his accomplishments.
About two years ago I added a comment to the Silly Putty Wikipedia entry saying that my father had been the Vice President of Silly Putty and I gave a few facts. Today when I looked at Wikipedia my statement was still on but it asked for a citation. It said that if a citation was not provided that my comment might be discarded and that I should defend myself on the discussion page.
I decided that if no one else would recognize my dad's accomplishments then perhaps I must. This is the reason for this page.
I welcome anyone who knew anything about Silly Putty from 1949 to 1976 to comment here. As a child I spent a lot of time at the plant in North Branford, less time, only once that I can remember, at the administrative office (424 Temple Street) near Yale and the "green" - New Haven's town center.
I am an attorney by profession and I understand Wikipedia's need for citations and fact checking. But what I know about Silly Putty is not from any book. It was my life.
My father, William Henry Haynes, was a Black man. That he hooked up with Peter Hodgson, and later MacGregor Kilpatrick, seems odd now, not so much then, when I was a child.
That a Black man managed the company for so many years is not a big surprise to me. They say that there is a woman behind every man and I have found that a lot of times there is a Black man or Black woman there too.
My comments in this blog may not be susceptible to fact checking. They are the memories of a woman who, as a child, lived daily with the workings of Silly Putty.
* from 1950 to 1976
Carol Haynes
New Orleans
