Remember Mr. Potato Head?
Better yet, remember when you used an actual potato to play with Mr. Potato Head?
I do.
The older I get, the more nostalgic I become. Maybe it’s because I have increasingly more things to look back on.
What I didn’t remember is that, according to the folks at NowIKnow.com, Mr. Potato Head originally came with a pipe, which he donated to the American Cancer Society to help promote anti-smoking efforts.
In 1964, the plastic potato head was created as the pegs that allowed you to insert the pieces into potatoes and other fruits and vegetables were deemed too sharp for children.
I’m all for child safety, but, try as I might, I can’t remember ever hurting myself on a Mr. Potato Head peg.
Then again, I remember sitting on the armrest in the front seat of the family station wagon on the way to the grocery store. I never wore a helmet when I rode my bike and I never wore a seat belt.
How on earth did I survive these dangers and make it to the advanced age of 53?
What horrific childhood hazards did you survive?
A wood-burning tool, chemistry set, giant metal playground equipment at school, BB gun, dirt bike, and magnifying glass (oh, the tiny fires). And I can remember riding in the back WINDOW of the car when little, on the shelf behind the back seats. Nothing like rolling all the way to the floor when Mom hit the brakes!
I rode in the back window, too! And shot beer cans with a BB gun. I also remember killing a poor bug or two with a magnifying glass on a sunny day. Should I have admitted that?
Oops. AXLE.
I survived monkey bars at school. And BB guns. And riding on the tractor with my grandpa. An OPEN-AIR TRACTOR WHERE I STOOD ON THE AXEL AND HUNG ON TO HIM FOR SUPPORT.
They don’t have monkey bars on school playgrounds any more, do they?
Also, I actually still have a scar on my knee from jagged concrete on the seesaw at West School.
The tractor tho? That’s a new one!