A Fifties Toy "Two-fer!"

Greetings from the attic! This week I have two items to share with you...and they both come from the 1950's! So settle back and let's take a little trip to post WWII America...

(At this point, the picture would go all wavy in a 1950's sit-com...so imagine that, ok?)

The year was 1953. The kids of America had fallen in love with a certain toy spud the year before, when Mr. Potato Head was born. This year, however, more family members were added! Now a lucky kid just might get this!

Yep, it's Mr. AND Mrs. Potato Head...PLUS Brother Spud and Sister Yam! Wow! (Mind...blown.) They came with about a jillion little hats, eyes, ears, pipes (not yet P.C.!), etc.

What they didn't come with was...a potato! The kid was expected to steal a few from mom and jab the little parts into them. I would suspect the Potato Family aged rather quickly... It would be 1964 before a plastic non-rotting potato was included.

I picked this set up this summer at an online estate sale. The price was right...dirt cheap! ...get it?...Dirt?...Potatoes?...Never mind...

Anyway, it looks pretty complete and it makes a good addition to the ol' attic!

Next, we're going back to Plasticville! This is an item that I picked up at a flea market a few years ago...

Actually, I didn't buy this for the model (I already had a church) but for the box. As you can see, the box sports a sticker encouraging kids to sign up to win a free trip to Disneyland!

Disney held this promotion in 1956, which helps date the kit. Unfortunately, the entry blank was not included. The kit was in there, however, and it's a pretty good early example of it, so that's a plus.

Interestingly enough, several companies were involved in this promotion, including 3M. The Barstow family actually won a trip and captured the whole thing on 16mm film! If you want to see it, just go to this link:

https://youtu.be/jZKHnAT_0c0

I'm such a Disney nerd that I actually bought the DVD of this film....it comes with extra interviews with the family and stuff.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed your time in the 50's! Until next time, keep searching for treasure!