Mr. Potato Head is an American toy brand consisting of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach — typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, pants and mouth. Mr. Potato Head was invented and manufactured by George Lerner in 1949, but was first distributed by Hasbro in 1952. It was the first toy advertised on television and has remained in production since. In its original form, Mr. Potato Head was offered as separate plastic parts with pushpins to be attached into a real potato or other vegetable. Due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body with the toy set in 1964. The original toy was subsequently joined by Mrs. Potato Head and supplemented with accessories including a car and boat trailer. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head both appeared in the Toy Story franchise, voiced by Don Rickles and Estelle Harris. Additionally, in 1998, The Mr. Potato Head Show aired but was short-lived, with only one season being produced. As one of the prominent marks of Hasbro, a Mr. Potato Head balloon has also joined others in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Toy Story Midway Mania!, in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, also features a large talking Mr. Potato Head. Hasbro updated the brand in 2021, dropping the honorific in the name and marketing the toy simply as Potato Head, while retaining the individual characters of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. History In the early 1940s, Brooklyn-born toy inventor George Lerner came up with the idea of inserting small, pronged body and face parts into fruits and vegetables to create a "funny face man". Some speculate he got the idea from his wife's nephew Aaron Bradley, who was seen placing sticks inside of potatoes in the family garden. Lerner would often take potatoes from his mother's garden and, using various other fruits and vegetables as facial features, he would make dolls with which his younger sisters could play. The grape-eyed, carrot-nosed, potato-headed dolls became the principal idea behind the plastic toy which would later be manufactured. Originally, Lerner's toy proved controversial. With World War II and food rationing a recent memory for most Americans, the use of fruits and vegetables to make toys was considered irresponsible and wasteful. Toy companies rejected Lerner's creation. After several years of trying to sell