Sunday

Potato Head

One of the more memorable toys in my childhood was *Mr. Potato Head (I can't remember if he had a Mrs.?). I thought it was fun to create a new "Mr." every time I opened his hatch & chose new features for the little guy. 


This afternoon, I noticed Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head smiling (pink plastic ear to ear) on the front of our Toy Store themed memory game box. 


Mr. P has a dark mustache and Mrs. P has lusciously red plastic lips. I bet she has another set of lips in her back hatch...she could switch to little kissy lips in a second!


I thought about the easy switch-ability of this starchy couple & their various facial features (and shoes... and hats). I have a respectable selection of shoes to choose from, depending on weather/activity/mood. Not so much on the hats...but...I began to imagine what it would be like to have a variety of physical features from which to choose.


Would I choose a smaller nose for changing stinky diapers?

Would I switch out my sleepy eyes for wide-awake eyes when the alarm goes off?


Would I change my hair to thick curls on a dry day and straight strands on a humid afternoon?




The thought is entertaining, to say the least.




In reality, there are plenty of potato heads in our image-centric society. I'm sure you can think of more than a handful of celebrities whose lips have turned to plastic & whose chins have been switched out every few years. 


I think I wouldn't mind trying out a different shaped nose, longer legs, or eyes with naturally dark, thick lashes. There are probably physical features that each of us wouldn't mind switching out for a different version of ourselves. 


But then...we wouldn't really be ourselves, now would we? 




Perhaps we should leave the feature-changing to the potato heads of the world...

...and remind ourselves that we don't really 
want a hollow middle to hold 
all those extra eyeballs & lips.



*Mr. Potato Head was advertised & distributed in 1952--originally just the parts to put on your own potato or other vegetable. He was the FIRST TOY advertised on TV--and government regulations later forced the toy company (Hasbro) to include a plastic potato body with the toy set.


2 comments:

It's Me - Jen E! said...

I do love Mr. Potato Head. And while I would like to switch out some of my features...they are what make me, me! I do need to alter some of those features (*ahem*...waist line) and I would like to be able to switch out the hair feature rather than fighting with it some mornings....

Linda said...

That was SUCH A FUN POST! I loved that you called them a 'starchy couple!' I also like the idea of sticking those things in actual potatoes.