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

Mr. Potato Head debuted as a prize in a cereal box, but the post-World War II era was not one in which this alternative use for precious food items was welcomed, so the toy didn’t immediately gain a following. But in 1952, Mr. Potato Head got a fresh start. Hasbro, Inc. introduced Lerner’s toy with a much greater flourish, making it the first toy to be advertised on television.

The excitement of Mr. Potato Head’s early life continued when, in 1953, Mrs. Potato Head came along. The Potato Head family grew with the addition of children: Brother Spud and Sister Yam.

Around 1960, Mr. Potato Head had plastic surgery — literally. Hasbro began to include a brown plastic potato body, so a real potato was no longer needed for play. Accessories were added to the set, including hair and hats, moustaches, eyeglasses, and feet.

But Mr. Potato Head’s excellent adventures still had new heights to climb. He got a television game show, eponymously named, The Mr. Potato Head Show, a comic strip by Jim Davis, was commissioned to do advertisements for Burger King. Pictured on jigsaw puzzles and starring in Toy Story, Mr. Potato Head’s fortunes continued to rise.

In 2002, Mr. Potato Head celebrated his fiftieth birthday with a party at the American International Toy Fair, at which he received his AARP card. New in 2006 were themed sets to create distinctive characters, including a king, a princess, Santa, a pirate, a rock superstar, a police officer, a fire fighter, a construction worker, an alien, Star Ward themed characters Darth Tater, a Spud Trooper, Artoo-Potatoo; and Spider Spud — a Spiderman themed model.