FACTS ON KIDS’ FAVES AS MR POTATO HEAD HITS 70
HAPPY birthday Mr Potato Head – the top-selling toy turns 70 today!
Launched by American George Lerner on May 1, 1952, he cost less than a dollar. Makers Hasbro sold a million in the first year and the character later starred in the
Toy Story movies. But did you know he was the first toy advertised on TV, or that until 1964 the kits were meant to be attached to a real spud? has more toy-tastic trivia…
PLAY-DOH: The craft modelling clay was first marketed in the 1930s in the US to clean soot from wallpaper. It only became a toy in 1956. Three billion cans have been sold.
LEGO: The Danish building-block giant is the world’s largest tyre maker – turning out 700million annually. There are 915,103,765 potential combinations of six 4x2 LEGO blocks.
SUBBUTEO: The table-top football game was created in 1946 by Briton Peter Adolph. The first playing figures were made of cardboard on bases made from buttons weighed down with metal washers.
RUBIK’S CUBE: Hungarian Erno Rubik invented what he initially called The Magic Cube in 1974. The fastest time to solve it is 3.86 seconds.
SLINKY: US naval engineer Richard James invented it in 1943 when he noticed a spring “walk” down a set of books. Each is made of 80ft of wire.
TWISTER: Originally called Pretzel, the game was branded “sex in a box” by critics. But sales boomed after US TV host Johnny Carson played it with actress Eva Gabor on his show back in 1966.
YO-YO: Thought to be the second-oldest toy after dolls, they date back to at least 500BC. They were used for hunting in the Philippines.
PONG: The prototype for the world’s first successful video game, based on table tennis, was tried out in a bar called Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California.
ETCH A SKETCH: French sparky André Cassagnes came up with it in 1959 after finding a way to displace aluminium powder on the back of a screen.
FURBY: The 1980s speaking robots were banned by the US
National
Security
Agency from its properties over fears they would hear and repeat top-secret conversations.
SUPER SOAKER: The Super Soaker was invented by Nasa engineer Lonnie Johnson, who also worked on the stealth bomber.
TEDDY BEAR: They were named after US president Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt after he refused to shoot a trapped cub while hunting.
BARBIE: Invented by Ruth Handler and named after her daughter Barbara. Ken was named after her son.
ACTION MAN: Inventor Stan Weston missed out on millions when he sold the concept, based on American GI Joe figures, for $100,000 instead of taking royalties.
MECCANO: The building kits originated in 1901, invented by Frank Hornby who was also behind model railways and Dinky Toys.
SCALEXTRIC: The Beatles loved the car racing sets, launched in 1957, and played with them backstage at gigs.