Naugahyde. The Urban Myth

the Naugahyde, so you know!
Exists only in the minds of the gullible.. as it did in mine so many years ago.
Twas Fred the foreman in the commercial Bookbindery where I worked  that convinced me so. 
 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Naugahyde (sometimes abbreviated to Nauga) is an American brand of artificial leather (or "pleather" from plastic leather). Naugahyde is a composite of a knit fabric backing and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic coating. It was developed by United States Rubber Company, and is now manufactured and sold by Uniroyal Engineered Products, LLC, a privately held company. Its name, first used as a trademark in 1936,^[1] comes from the Borough of Naugatuck, Connecticut, where it was first produced. Uniroyal asserts that Naugahyde is one of the most popular premium pleathers. Naugahyde is manufactured in Stoughton, Wisconsin.^[2]

Advertising campaign showing the fictional Nauga character. Note that the Nauga's skin is made of vinyl.

A marketing campaign of the 1960s and 1970s asserted humorously that Naugahyde was obtained from the skin of an animal called a "Nauga". The claim became an urban myth.^[3] The campaign emphasized that, unlike other animals, which must typically be slaughtered to obtain their hides, Naugas can shed their skin without harm to themselves.^[4] The Nauga doll, a squat, horned monster with a wide toothy grin, became popular in the 1960s and is still sold today.^[5]