Yes, the inimitable Mr. Potato Head! Our relationship dates back to the early days of my youth. My mother has kept some old kindergarten assignments of mine, including one where I wrote of this my favorite toy. So there's something about sticking facial features into an imitation spud that always captured my imagination.
The toy was first sold to consumers in 1952 by Hasbro, and initially didn't include a body. Kids were supposed to put the plastic bits into real vegetables. I'm not quite old enough to remember those days, but I'm sure that must have gotten quite messy so the artifical torso was tossed in by 1964.
Maybe it's an attachment to the art of disguise, or maybe it's a fondness for limitless physical transformation. Whatever the explanation, part of me has always been fond of this plastic monument to personal redefinition. You can get quite lost in choosing different combinations of eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hats and even feet to create tubermen that reflect a particular mood or fancy. My nephew Matthew got caught up in that very frenzy today as he shared in the excitement of another unboxed antiquity.
Metamorphosis is an act to be enjoyed by all ages, and adaptation is an important trait to embrace in this time of epochal change. Re-imagining ourselves and our world is a necessary step to take if we're to pass through the threshold upon which we're poised and emerge on the other side better off for the journey.
7 comments:
Thank you Francis for unpacking another wonderful ‘antiquity’ childhood memory for us! Mr. Potato Head the Master ‘Metamorphosis ’!
1980's Bucket of Parts commercial
"Mr. Potato Head,
and his bucket o' parts.
Buckets of fun for everyone."
You can put him all together and take him all a part
It's Mr. Potato Head and his bucket of parts.”
Now that the cobwebs in my head have been dusted, Thanks to you Francis; I recall an excellent performance by Louis Armstrong, Potato Head Blues !
Have you checked out the recent Mr. Potato Head stuff? They have come a long way! LOL!
I think we adults need to play more! Seriously...
I have the idea that if we spent all the money on war, on toys instead... spread them around the world, that our world would be something quite different!
:-)
OK, so no one is going to elect me president! LOL!
Nice post Francis...
Jen
Jeane, I need to start consulting you before I do my posts :). You're always adding such wonderful background information and insights.
I actually have the red bucket of parts mentioned, but somehow pieces have gone missing over the last 20 years, so the variety of heads has diminished with time.
I think I have that Armstrong cut ... I'll check my CDs.
Thanks Jennifer,
I think a good number of us actually would vote for you to be president. You certainly have real ideas and vision, which I don't see from most of the actual candidates.
I like the toys not guns suggestion very much. I'd like to see the US become the biggest exporter of toys rather than arms. Toys free up the imagination and enable our creativity. It's a great idea.
I remember using a real potato, none of that cheap plastic stuff,lol
Hi Bob,
I hope you didn't ever try to bake the potato afterward with the pieces still in :).
Dude, that Potato Head guy looks exactly like Kevin O'Neil. Seriously, go take a good look at it.
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