What could possibly be better than giving children possession of a substance that combines latex, toxic chemicals such as carcinogenic benzene or flammable acetone, all with a dash of alcohol?  Who knows what Paul Van Cleef was thinking when he mixed them all together at the dawn of the twentieth century in order to create rubber cement.  But he created nothing less than the greatest childhood adhesive yet known to man.

Despite its questionable contents, rubber cement is a fixture in the childhood conscience, a staple of seemingly every class.  Face it, rubber cement blew Elmer's glue out of the water.  Unlike water-based glues, rubber cement never shrank when applied, so it never wrinkled paper.  Rubber cement was also easy to remove in the event of a mistake, peeling off of practically any surface without the grief of brittle paste glues.  Also, rubber cement didn't deteriorate over time, meaning that childhood art didn't inevitably become "interpretive" over time.  And yes, contrary to the vain protestations of a foolish few, rubber cement made not only the best fake boogers, but also fake skin that was clearly superior to Elmer's.  Yes, rubber cement was unquestionably the adhesive of choice for both high-brow and low-brow needs.

Sure, there were questions about safety.  It had to be used in a well-ventilated area or the fumes could melt your brain or alter your perception of reality.  It was flammable, but when you're dealing with children, what isn't?  While normally used as a means to some educational end, with its small hand held tin and cap/brush dipped in fast-drying, gooey, gluey polymer-based goodness, rubber cement was also and often an end unto itself.