Mr. Potato Head Inventor: George Lerner

Mr. Potato Head Inventor: George Lerner — page 1 — Chapter 1 YOUNG Spud For hundreds of years a war has raged on All over the world parents face off against their children The battlefield is the dinner table The war cry Don't play with your food But in the 1950s a new toy appeared in stores Not only did it encourage kids to play with their food but it gave them special tools to do it And what was more parents didn't mind Mr Potato Head gave kids a whole new way to play Today the toy includes a plastic head that kids can add features to But the original Mr Potato Head just included the features Kids added them to real potatoes This toy sensation was invented by George FUN FACT Lerner He was born in 1910 and grew up in Brooklyn New York George had two younger Today many people collect Potato sisters But little else is known about George's Head items A man in Birmingham childhood or family Some say that George's toy Alabama has nearly legacy began when he was a young boy 1 000 of them According to the story George took vegetables from his mother's garden He stuck

Mr. Potato Head Inventor: George Lerner — page 2 — Mr. POTATO HEAD FUNNY FACE KIT ANY FRUIT OR VEGETABLE MAKES A FUNNY FACE MAN PATENT PROTECTED US PAT OFF Over 100 million Mr Potato Head kits have been sold in the past 60 years small items into them to turn them into dolls George then gave these dolls to his sisters Whether this story is true or not one thing is certain George would grow up to become a toy trailblazer

Mr. Potato Head Inventor: George Lerner — page 3 — Chapter 2 Food FUN George became an artistic creative adult In the 1930s Lerner worked as a toy designer for a toy company in Illinois It was called the Buddy L Manufacturing Company Buddy L made toys out of pressed steel In 1939 the company faced a major challenge That year World War II began The US government needed a lot of metal to produce weapons ammunition and other goods for the military So Buddy Land many other US companies had to stop using metal for their products Part of Lerner's job at Buddy L was to change the toy designs from metal to wood By 1949 Lerner had started a family He and his wife Faye had two sons Franklin and David FUN FACT At dinnertime Lerner's sons often played with In 1986 Mr Potato their food Telling them to stop didn't work So Head received four Lerner came up with a new plan write in votes during the Boise Idaho Lerner gathered bottle caps thumbtacks mayoral election and other items He stuck them into potatoes giving the potatoes silly faces Franklin and David

Mr. Potato Head Inventor: George Lerner — page 4 — loved the potato faces They now had food other than their dinner that they could play with Playing with the potato dolls was a lot less messy Lerner decided to further develop his idea He believed other children would enjoy the potato faces as much as his sons did Lerner created many toys during his lifetime Mr Potato Head was by far the most famous

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