On This Day Over 70 Years Ago, Mr. Potato Head Became First Toy Advertised On TV

No matter what other possessions we might own, imagination is a boundless well of potential. 75 years ago, inventory George Lerner cooked up Mr. Potato Head, and just a few years later, the simple yet delectably revolutionary plaything would become the first toy to be advertised on television. That day, April 30, became forever commemorated as Mr. Potato Head Day.

Sometimes the best place to look for inspiration is close to home. The story goes that Brooklyn native Lerner was first inspired to create Mr. Potato Head after observing his wife’s nephew, Aaron Bradley, poking sticks into potatoes on the family farm. From there, Lerner imagined sticking pronged body and face parts into a spud to create a “funny face man.” He couldn’t have known at the time that this concept would spread in popularity like wildfire.

Growing an enduring crop of new toys

Lerner himself also saw the potential for potatoes as playthings and would take the vegetables from his own mother’s garden and use other plant life to make facial features. The final creations went to his younger siblings to play with. The earliest models of what would become Mr. Potato Head sported grape eyes, carrot noses, and of course potato heads; Lerner used this as the blueprint for the official product to come.

The first wave of his product, a food turned into a toy, came to fruition in 1949 using plastic face pieces. Owners could use push-pin ears, eyes, noses, and mouths to create wacky faces on not just potatoes but any suitable fruit or vegetable.

At first, the prototype’s prospects couldn’t have looked more grim; a post-World War II market was wary of the idea of using valuable food as a plaything, effectively wasting such a precious resource. Initially, Lerner was to sell the toy idea to a cereal company for $5,000, with the toy serving as a premium giveaway in cereal boxes. However, the toy manufacturer Hasbro, back when it was called Hassenfeld Brothers, bought the rights back for $7,000. They christened the toy Mr. Potato Head.

Mr. Potato Head Day celebrates one small step for spud, one giant leap for advertising

Hasbro began selling Mr. Potato Head in 1952 and on April 30 of that year, company and potato alike made history when the product became the very first toy to be advertised on television. This wasn’t just a first for toys; it marked the start of a new trend in marketing, the first monumental sweep of stones in a landslide that would change the advertising landscape forever.

For the first time, there was an advertisement campaign aimed at children—even toy commercials to be played with by kids were marketed towards the parents who would buy them for the youngsters at home. This might have been a one-off, had Mr. Potato Head not performed so unprecedentedly well, selling over a million kits in the first year alone. A new formula for success had been established, encouraging others to follow.

Not only was this format sticking around long-term—so was Mr. Potato Head, whose national holiday celebrates the day he became the first toy in history with its own commercial. So, when government regulations changed and demanded that the size and sharpness of the toy’s accessories be adjusted for safety, rather than dropping the product completely, Hasbro carefully curated its kingmaker to suit those regulations.

Good thing too, because Mr. Potato Head became a cultural icon across the country, receiving multiple votes for mayor of Boise, Idaho, back in ’85, receiving the title of Spokespud for the annual Great American Smokeout, and earning induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2000.

Did or do you own any version of Mr. Potato Head?