The toy Mr. Potato Head was invented and developed by George Lerner in
1949, and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952. Mr. Potato
Head was the first toy advertised on TV and has remained in production
since its debut. The toy was originally produced as separate plastic parts
with pushpins that could be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, but
due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body within the toy set
in 1964.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

George Lerner (1922–1995)