Raise your hand if you, or your children, or your grandchildren, have ever owned - or played with - one of these, in some form or other:
Did you raise your hand? You know you did, and so did I, and so did a whole boatload of other folks. In fact, millions of kids - and former kids - have had a blast playing with this most versatile toy.
And on May 1st, we all have the perfect excuse to play again, because that's the anniversary of the the day, back in 1952, when Mr. Potato Head was first released for sale. The original toy was quite different from the one sold today:
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| Photo Credit: National Institute of Health "About Faces" Exhibit |
Invented by George Lerner, who eventually sold his idea to Hasbro, Inc., Mr. Potato Head cost 98 cents when he made his debut. The set came with 28 pieces, including: eyes, ears, noses, hands, feet, mouths, hats, eyeglasses, felt facial hair, and a tobacco smoking pipe. It had everything an imaginative kid would need to create all manner of silly potato heads, save one thing: the potato. Kids had to convince Mom and Dad to hand over a real spud to be able to play with the toy. It wasn't until 1964 that the iconic plastic potato was included in Mr. Potato Head sets.
From those humble beginnings, Mr. Potato Head has thrived, becoming a toy with significant staying power, and quite an interesting history:
On April 30, 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy ever to be advertised on television, and was marketed directly to children (also a first).
In 1985, Mr. Potato Head received four write-in votes in the Boise, Idaho mayoral election.
2 Comments on A Day to Honor to Our Favorite Plastic Spud, last added: 4/29/2011
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Oh, I adore Mr Potato Head! He certainly deserves to be in the Toy Hall of Fame.
Cool post, Kim.
Thanks, Joanne!