What’s Mr. Potato Head?

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Mr. Potato Head is a children’s toy that allows people to attach various plastic facial features, body parts, and accessories to the toy to give it the look of a small character. Invented in 1949, it originally only included plastic pieces that could be inserted into a real potato or other vegetable or fruit, but since 1960, Mr. Potato Head has come with a plastic “potato” that has holes into which the pieces can be entered. Over the years, Hasbro Inc., which has manufactured and marketed the toy since 1952, has also produced several related toys and variations based on different themes and characters.

George Lerner’s idea
This toy was invented by George Lerner, an American inventor and designer. His original idea was to create plastic facial features that could be applied to a piece of fruit or vegetable, thus transforming an inanimate piece of food into an anthropomorphic toy. The set included multiple eyes, ears, noses and mouths which could be combined to give the character different expressions.

Early incarnations
Mr. Potato Head debuted as a cereal box prize, but the post-World War II era wasn’t one in which this alternative use of prized foodstuffs was embraced, so the toy didn’t immediately gain a following. In 1952, Hasbro — then known as the Hassenfeld Brothers — introduced Lerner’s toy to a much larger flourish, making it the first toy to have television commercials targeting children. A year later, Mrs. Potato Head was introduced, followed by two children, Brother Spud and Sister Yam. The toy family also had various accessories that could be purchased, such as a kitchen set, a car, and even pets.

A big change
In the early 1960s, Mr. Potato Head had plastic surgery—literally. Hasbro began including a brown plastic potato body, so a real potato was no longer required to play. Accessories have been added to the set, including hair and hats, moustaches, glasses, and feet. Other characters were introduced in the forms of a carrot, a pepper, a cucumber and an orange. Although most of these additional characters were soon discontinued, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head continued to be popular into the 21st century.

Pop culture icon
Mr. Potato Head is considered a classic American toy and was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2000. It was sold in themes such as a pirate, Santa, a police officer, and movie and comic book characters. Mr. Potato Head had his own television show, called The Mr. Potato Head Show; was the subject of a cartoon by Jim Davis; appeared in commercials and advertisements for other products; and was one of the stars of the animated films Toy Story.

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