In the Late 1980s Mr. Potato Head Ditched His Pipe for a Healthier Lifestyle, with Help from Arnold Schwarzenegger Angela AndaloroThu, March 5, 2026 at 10:48 PM UTC 0 Mr. Potato Head (left), Arnold SchwarzeneggerCredit: JERRY HOLT/Star Tribune/Getty;Steve Starr/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Mr. Potato Head first debuted in 1950 Toy historian Tim Walsh opened up about the longstanding toy's history in an episode of Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia Walsh explained different points in history where the toy actually became controversial Mr. Potato Head is no stranger to controversy.
In the Late 1980s Mr. Potato Head Ditched His Pipe for a Healthier Lifestyle, with Help from Arnold Schwarzenegger
Angela AndaloroThu, March 5, 2026 at 10:48 PM UTC
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Mr. Potato Head (left), Arnold SchwarzeneggerCredit: JERRY HOLT/Star Tribune/Getty;Steve Starr/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty -
Mr. Potato Head first debuted in 1950
Toy historian Tim Walsh opened up about the longstanding toy's history in an episode of Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia
Walsh explained different points in history where the toy actually became controversial
Mr. Potato Head is no stranger to controversy.
The beloved kids toy turned Toy Story character has a rich history that dates back to World War II. New York artist George Lerner was babysitting when he got the idea to stick sharp objects into vegetables to amuse the children on a rainy day. Toy and game historian Tim Walsh explains that the idea started as a cereal-box premium, but became its own toy when Hasbro expressed interest.
Mr. Potato Head debuted in 1950, but at the time, the toy didn't come with a plastic potato. Asking kids to play with actual food was the toy's first controversy, Walsh explained to Joe Sibilia on Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia.
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Little girl plays with Mr. Potato HeadCredit: Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty
"From '50 to '64... you provided the potato. At the time, World War II food rationing was still fresh in parents' minds. So the idea of wasting food with this kit was sort of controversial," he explained.
During those years, one of Mr. Potato Head's signature accessories was a pipe. The toy came about in an era where cigarette smoking was still ubiquitous.
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"So famously, I think it was Arnold Schwarzenegger was the head of some sort of fitness committee before he was the governor of California, and he convinced Mr. Potato Head to give up his pipe, along with the Surgeon General," Walsh claimed.
Classic Mr. Potato HeadCredit: R. Dias/ClassicStock/Getty
As the late 1980s came about, there was a desire to shift Mr. Potato Head's image. In 1987, in partnership with the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, Hasbro agreed to stop including a pipe as one of Mr. Potato Head's standard accessories. The focus on health continued into the early 1990s, when Arnold Schwarzenegger and the President's Council on Physical Fitness gave him an award for abandoning the "couch-potato" lifestyle.
During Hasbro's 2021 presentation to investors on Thursday, the toy company announced that the iconic Mr. Potato Head would become a non-gendered toy for kids to transform and customize as they choose.
Mr. Potato Head with plastic potatoCredit: Mario Ruiz/Getty
Hasbro called the line "a celebration of the many faces of families allowing kids to imagine and create their own Potato Head family with 2 large potato bodies, 1 small potato body, and 42 accessories, their potato family can have up to 2 parents, and a baby.
Mr. Potato Head celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2022, introducing elderly versions of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head to the lineup.
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Source: Entertainment
Published: March 6, 2026 at 01:09AM on Source: RED MAG
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