Mr. Potato Head

Mr. Potato Head has changed a lot since he was first created. But, kids still love him and he is a lot of fun. Mr. Potato Head was invented by George Lerner of Brooklyn in 1949. When George Lerner was younger he would make toys with funny faces for his little sister using fruits and vegetables. George's parents had a garden and he would use the food from the garden to make his creations. George's original idea was to make a bunch of plastic pieces like a mouth, a nose, ears and eyes that could be attached to fruits and vegetables. The idea was to make a toy that would bring inanimate food objects to life. George first sold his idea to a cereal company for $5,000. He had trouble trying to sell it to other companies because of the recent rationing of food during the war and no one wanted to support wasting food. The pieces would have been packaged as a prize in the cereal box that could be attached to a potato.
George quickly got a better offer from the creators of Hasbro. So Hasbro and George bought the rights to the toy back for $7,000 in 1951. George's new deal would give him$500 up front and 50 cents from each kit sold. In 1952 Hasbro began manufacturing and selling Mr. Potato Head all across America. Originally Mr. Potato Head was just a bunch of parts and the you would need to provide your own potato. But, today a plastic potato body with holes is used.