The Innocently Fun Mr Potato Head

Don’t you ever wonder why a simple looking vegetable like the potato became the image of one of the most iconic and timeless plaything for children? Mr Potato Head is certainly a strange concept for a toy! It has the form of a potato that serves as its body, and then there are attachable parts such as eyes, nose, mouth, arms, legs… and a hat even. Whoever thought of making this toy must had some peculiar but great imagination and foresight.

First conceptualised in the late 1940’s, a guy by the name of George Lerner (1922–1995) thought of selling plastic body parts that children could pin on anything so as to make them look humanised. Eventually, kids became fond of using these “body parts” on vegetables – more particularly the potato. It did not end with mere body parts; the package also came with a hat, glasses, and pipe.

During the onset of the Second World War, the United States experienced a crisis in food rationing, so using vegetables as toys was seen as a wasteful misuse of food. That, combined with health and hygiene concerns related to the pushpins and rotting vegetables, caused Lerner’s newly invented toys to meet much resistance.

From Mere Body Parts to Full Mr Potato Head

Because of those issues, Lerner leased the rights of his plastic parts to a cereal company, which distributed the toys as prizes inside the cereal boxes. But luck did not really run away from Lerner; the Hassenfield brothers, who would later establish the Hasbro toy company, saw the potential of these small plastic toys. He then sold the rights to the brothers who paid the cereal company to stop the production and distribution of Lerner’s toys.

To avoid clashing with outstanding resistance, the company decided to supply the parts with a plastic head – and they used the humble potato as its representation – thus came Mr Potato Head as we know today! The product was the first toy ever to be advertised on television, which premiered on 30 April 1952. The toy has been a staple of toy stores ever since.

Mr Potato Head may have already been popular since the 1950’s, but the Toy Story movie franchise gave him the fame matching that of a Hollywood celebrity.

Hasbro did not stop with just Mr Potato Head. They decided that he needed a family. That’s why we now have Mrs Potato Head as his loving and sweet partner. In fact, the couple has 2 children – Yam and Spud. Don’t forget their kids’ friends – Oscar the Orange, Kate the Carrot, Cookie Cucumber, and Pete the Pepper.

Variations of Mr Potato Head evolved through the years with different body parts and accessories. There is one that has a tie, another one has glasses, and many other varying versions. You may want to check out our range of Mr Potato Head items.

Mr Potato Head toys are great playthings that promote wholesome play and innocent fun to young children. They can be found in almost any place that sells toys, be it online or in a physical store – and you can definitely shop for them here at Mr Toys!