Anybody know what the old school play doh or clay is called that's rust-colored and has a unique smell?

I think you mean plasticine.It does have a unique smell.

If the clay was "rust" colored only, it probably was terracotta colored "earth clay." It has a particular smell but not a chemical or perfume, etc, smell... just from-the-earth smell.

Plasticine is a synthetic "clay" made from oil products, fillers and wax. Little kids have played with it since at least the 50's. It's unique among all the types of "clay" in that it will never harden (since it's oil-based, there's no water in it to evaporate out, and the added waxes keep it from hardening with heat like a polymer clay would).

There are various brands of plasticine (or "modeling clay" when that phrase is used technically, not loosely). For kids, any brand would probably be fine (look at craft, hobby, and kid's stores). If you want a better quality brand, look for ClayToons at craft stores, or Plastalina online--the kind usually preferred by animators for stop-motion).

If you want an earth clay, check out Mexican Pottery Clay from the craft or hobby store which comes in terracotta color (and maybe or white too?), or buy regular "clay" from an art supply store (or perhaps small amounts in other stores) by the pound. Or dig some up if your backyard has a heavy-clay soil --often will be in dry areas at the bottoms of hills; the color could vary there though. Or you could "mine" your own clay by putting a bunch of soil/etc into a container with water, stirring, then alowing the dirt to settle to the bottom... whatever clay is in that soil will settle as a fine powder on top of the dirt (still under the water) and can be collected separately.

The product named "PlayDoh" is a trademarked one, and not the same as using "play dough" to mean any play clay that resembles a dough or is actually a dough (like bread clear or salt dough clay). It's also one of the many air-dry clays so it will harden the longer it' left out, but at the lower end of quality for air-dry clays (fine for little kids who don't really want to do fine detail or really keep anything --often cracks while drying).

I suppose it could have been salt dough clay since you said it smelled slightly salty, but would have had to be colored "rusty" (probably with acrylic paint or powdered tempera) since it's natural color would be a cream-type shade.

Check out my previous (long) answer at YA for lots more info on the types and brands of "clays," their characteristics, and where to get more info, if you're interested:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201006...

HTH,

Diane B.