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Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head is an American toy produced by Hasbro since 1952. It consists of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach; typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, mustache, pipe (1952–1987), pants, glasses, and mouth.
Mr. Potato Head was invented and manufactured by George Lerner in 1949, but was first distributed by Hasbro in 1952. It was the first toy advertised on television and has remained in production since.
In its original form, Mr. Potato Head was offered as separate plastic parts with pushpins to be affixed to a real potato or other vegetable. Due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body with the toy set in 1964. The original toy was joined by Mrs. Potato Head in 1953 and later supplemented with accessories including a car and boat trailer. Hasbro updated the brand in 2021, dropping the honorific in the name and marketing the toy simply as Potato Head, while retaining the individual characters of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head both appeared in the Toy Story franchise, formerly voiced by Don Rickles and Estelle Harris. Additionally, in 1998, The Mr. Potato Head Show aired but was short-lived, with only one season being produced. As one of the prominent marks of Hasbro, a Mr. Potato Head balloon has also joined others in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Toy Story Midway Mania!, in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, also features a large talking Mr. Potato Head.
In the early 1940s, Brooklyn-born toy inventor George Lerner came up with the idea of inserting small, pronged body and face parts into fruits and vegetables to create a "funny face man". The exact origin and inspiration for this idea are unknown. One theory is that, as a child, Lerner often took potatoes from his mother's garden and, using various other fruits and vegetables as facial features, made dolls for his younger sisters. In a slight variation of this story, the items he attached to the potatoes were smaller fruits and vegetables (e.g., grapes for eyes and carrots for noses). However, others have speculated that he got the idea from his wife's nephew Aaron Bradley, who was seen placing sticks inside of potatoes in the family garden. Yet another version states that Lerner came up with the idea in 1949 and was inspired by his own children, who often played with their food. Various sources list 1949 as the official year that the Funny Face Man was invented.
In 1951, Lerner completed a prototype for Funny Face Man. Finding a buyer was initially a challenge because companies thought consumers would be hesitant to waste food so soon after the rationing that was widespread during World War II. However, Post Cereals purchased the rights to Funny Face Man that same year, with plans to include the kits in breakfast cereal boxes. Just a few months later (in 1952), the toy company Hassenfeld Brothers (now known as Hasbro) and Lerner bought back the rights to Funny Face Man kits from Post. In Hasbro's version, the kits included a styrofoam head. However, because the styrofoam head had limited reusability, the packaging still recommended that the accessories be affixed to potatoes or other produce.
On April 30, 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television. The campaign was also the first to be aimed directly at children; before this, commercials were only targeted at adults, including toy advertisements.[clarification needed] The commercial revolutionized marketing by focusing on children as a target audience and encouraging them to ask their parents to buy the product (a concept that came to be known as the "nag factor"). Additionally, between 1949 and 1952, television sales had increased exponentially, and a massive polio outbreak in 1952 resulted in children spending more time indoors. Over one million kits were sold in the first year.
In 1953, Hasbro introduced a Mrs. Potato Head variant, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the family, followed by accessories reflecting the affluence of the 1950s: a car, boat trailer, kitchen set, stroller, and pets marketed as Spud-ettes. In the 1960s, Hasbro also introduced the Tooty Frooty Friends kit, which came with over 60 pieces for building four additional characters: Katie the Carrot, Kooky the Cucumber, Oscar the Orange, and Pete the Pepper.
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Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head is an American toy produced by Hasbro since 1952. It consists of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach; typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, mustache, pipe (1952–1987), pants, glasses, and mouth.
Mr. Potato Head was invented and manufactured by George Lerner in 1949, but was first distributed by Hasbro in 1952. It was the first toy advertised on television and has remained in production since.
In its original form, Mr. Potato Head was offered as separate plastic parts with pushpins to be affixed to a real potato or other vegetable. Due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body with the toy set in 1964. The original toy was joined by Mrs. Potato Head in 1953 and later supplemented with accessories including a car and boat trailer. Hasbro updated the brand in 2021, dropping the honorific in the name and marketing the toy simply as Potato Head, while retaining the individual characters of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head both appeared in the Toy Story franchise, formerly voiced by Don Rickles and Estelle Harris. Additionally, in 1998, The Mr. Potato Head Show aired but was short-lived, with only one season being produced. As one of the prominent marks of Hasbro, a Mr. Potato Head balloon has also joined others in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Toy Story Midway Mania!, in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, also features a large talking Mr. Potato Head.
In the early 1940s, Brooklyn-born toy inventor George Lerner came up with the idea of inserting small, pronged body and face parts into fruits and vegetables to create a "funny face man". The exact origin and inspiration for this idea are unknown. One theory is that, as a child, Lerner often took potatoes from his mother's garden and, using various other fruits and vegetables as facial features, made dolls for his younger sisters. In a slight variation of this story, the items he attached to the potatoes were smaller fruits and vegetables (e.g., grapes for eyes and carrots for noses). However, others have speculated that he got the idea from his wife's nephew Aaron Bradley, who was seen placing sticks inside of potatoes in the family garden. Yet another version states that Lerner came up with the idea in 1949 and was inspired by his own children, who often played with their food. Various sources list 1949 as the official year that the Funny Face Man was invented.
In 1951, Lerner completed a prototype for Funny Face Man. Finding a buyer was initially a challenge because companies thought consumers would be hesitant to waste food so soon after the rationing that was widespread during World War II. However, Post Cereals purchased the rights to Funny Face Man that same year, with plans to include the kits in breakfast cereal boxes. Just a few months later (in 1952), the toy company Hassenfeld Brothers (now known as Hasbro) and Lerner bought back the rights to Funny Face Man kits from Post. In Hasbro's version, the kits included a styrofoam head. However, because the styrofoam head had limited reusability, the packaging still recommended that the accessories be affixed to potatoes or other produce.
On April 30, 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television. The campaign was also the first to be aimed directly at children; before this, commercials were only targeted at adults, including toy advertisements.[clarification needed] The commercial revolutionized marketing by focusing on children as a target audience and encouraging them to ask their parents to buy the product (a concept that came to be known as the "nag factor"). Additionally, between 1949 and 1952, television sales had increased exponentially, and a massive polio outbreak in 1952 resulted in children spending more time indoors. Over one million kits were sold in the first year.
In 1953, Hasbro introduced a Mrs. Potato Head variant, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the family, followed by accessories reflecting the affluence of the 1950s: a car, boat trailer, kitchen set, stroller, and pets marketed as Spud-ettes. In the 1960s, Hasbro also introduced the Tooty Frooty Friends kit, which came with over 60 pieces for building four additional characters: Katie the Carrot, Kooky the Cucumber, Oscar the Orange, and Pete the Pepper.