Organization is not one of my talents. Most of my modest Potato Head collection is at least in one room, in shelves, in drawers, or on the wall. Some of it is scattered about the house, the ceramic Potato Head shakers in the kitchen, the remote spud on my bedroom dresser, the books in the living room bookcase, and the outdoor Potato Heads living in the trees. The rest reside unceremoniously in several bulging boxes in the attic, waiting their turn to be displayed.
Funny Faces by Mark Rich and Jeff Potocsnak is a detailed history of funny face games and toys including Potato Heads, Block Heads, and Magic Whiskers. In this book are hundreds of excellent photographs of funny face items from the collections of the authors and others. Accompanying the vivid, clear photos are detailed descriptions, histories and evaluations all organized meticulously by time and type. At the end of the book on pages 108-115 is a selective price guide listing the estimated value of some of these funny face toys, illustrated with numerous pictures.
I had a bit of writer’s block trying to get started on this review so I googled “funny face books to get some ideas. Within 15 seconds there were 6 million links to peruse, for too many for this cluttered, stalled mind. Six million. The number conveys somewhat the immense popularity funny faces have had and still have for kids of all ages. We’ve enjoyed seeing funny faces and even more creating them with plastic figures, metal shavings and magnets(magic whiskers), pens, pencils, crayons, wooden blocks, cards, cardboard, stickers, even real potatoes with plastic body parts.
This book contains 8 chapters and an afterward sequentially detailing the history of funny face toys and figures. An introduction briefly delves into some toys of this genre in the 18th and 19th centuries. The authors discuss the popularity of this type of toy and the slow evolution of design and materials. One of the earliest items pictures is “Noddles Astray – a pack of transformation cards, capable of making over 600 comical changes.
CHAPTERS
1 Of Magic Whiskers and Potato Heads - Read about Louis Armstrong’s “Potato Head Blues”, Spudnuts, the introduction of Mr. Potato Head Funny Face Kits in 1952 and Willy Wooly of the magnetic personality in 1955.
2 Block Heads – In this chapter the origins and development of changeable blocks is investigated. Ole Million Face appeared in the 1920’s. Children could make funny faces by moving or turning the wooden blocks. We learn here of blockhead toys featuring Blondie and Dagwood, Changeable Charlie’s Aunt and Bozo the Clown.
3 Space Faces and the Potato Head Races - Read about and see pictures of: Vegetable Space People, Space Faces, Mister Funny Face, the spooky Juggle Head, and Jugglehead Junior.
4 Invasion of the Spud People – Mrs. Potato Head in introduced in 1953 together with brother Spud and sister yam. Now kids can make female characters. Also appearing are the Spudettes, Potato Head pets. Potato Head links to Disney and Captain Kangaroo are explored. We learn that Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame had been Clarabelle of Doodyville. Numerous fabulous pics in this chapter.
5 The Real Mr. Potato Head’s Second to Last Stand - Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head drive their own potato-mobiles in 1959. In the 60’s the Potato Heads get kitchen appliances, a boat, an airplane, and a train.
List the chapter titles and brief overview of each. Also new in the 60’s are Prairie Potato Head and Mr. Potato Head on Safari.
6 Plastic Funny Faces – Some of the many toys featured in this chapter are: Magnetic Funny Faces, Allan Apple, Jumpin Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads, Mr. Egg Head, Mr. Potato Head’s Tooty Frooty Friends, and, Dunkie Donut Head. In 1964 Mr. Potato Head finally gets a plastic body to the delight and salvation of potatoes everywhere.
7 The Real Mr. Potato Head’s Last Stand – Real potatoes make a comeback in 1968. New play sets were designed to make funny faces not only with potatoes, but also with cucumbers, carrots, lemons, peppers, apples and other food items. In 1968 kits featuring Mr. Potato Head on the farm, in the parade, and on the railroad were introduced.
8 The Safety Oriented Seventies and Beyond – In the 70’s Hasbro decided on a larger Mr. Potato Head with larger but fewer body parts for safety’s sake. In 1987 Mr. Potato Head gives up his pipe.
If one can’t judge a book by its cover, then “Funny Face!” is the exception to the rule. Between the playfully designed front cover and the equally amusing and enlightening back cover, the reader is taken on a merry romp from the origin of funny face toys to the present. In this highly entertaining and informative book we follow the gradual transformation and evolution of Mr. Potato Head over the years in the context of the toys of his era. The authors provide excellent descriptions and critiques of the funny face toys and supplement the text with hundreds of colorful photographs, some with bright mustard yellow backrounds. For the pictures and nostalgic value alone, this book is worth a long look and a leisurely flip. For a Spudman it’s the ultimate coffee table book.
Other Potato Head reviews:
Mr. Potato Head Anniversary Book
Mr. Potato Head Keychain
Darth Tater
Mr. Potato Head’s Big Night Out
Remote Control Mr. Potato Head
Classic Mr. Potato Head
Potato Head Unplugged
Spudtrooper
Recommended:
