Play set:Ernie & Bert's Colorforms Playtime

Colorform sets evolved in the 1950s when two starving artists received a roll of pliable vinyl from a friend. The couple realized that the vinyl adhered to the semi-glossy paint of their apartment walls. From their observations, they developed a play set of vinyl pieces of geometric shapes in primary colors packaged with a sheet of laminated paper board. The first Colorforms sets were billed as "educational" toys enabling children to develop their creativity in the forms and figures they made from the basic shapes. Within a few years, Colorform sets featured characters, including familiar faces from television, comics, other media, and the doll world.