h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Once again on the internet we lose the fabulous history of an icon. No, Mr Potato Head did not start out as a lump of plastic. He started in the 1950s as a lump of styrofoam, but that was for illustration; the instructions (and most mothers) encouraged children to try the face-making pieces out on actual potatos, as well as other fruits and veggies. I suppose the modern generation knows nothing of these simpler pleasures, when men were men and potatos were actually tubers...

...(wanders off, muttering, chewing his beard)...

It kind of makes you wonder at what point did the makers of Mr Potato head decide that real potatos weren't good enough.

Were there safety issues? Was it pressure from the Potato Development Council after a generation of young children refused to continue eating "their bestest friend"? Or was it merely the usual scenario, that plastic imitations of things always look better than the things themselves?