One of those things an overtime-weary lab researcher possibly stumbled across by accident in some multi-national petro-chemical conglomerate, we reckon (see also Silly Putty and Slime). The basic premise rested on the implicit (and flawed) expectation that any child would be interested in watching small multicoloured stalagmites form as if by “magic” over a period of hours or, indeed, days inside a large liquid-filled glass bowl (or, more realistically in the Cream era child’s household, a Nescafe jar). As if that in itself were somehow edifying or educational.