Potato Head, formerly Mr. Potato Head, is a toy consisting of a
plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety
of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts
usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, pants and a
mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner
in 1949 and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in
1952 Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television and
has remained in production since its debut. It was originally
produced as separate plastic parts with pushpins that could be
stuck into a real potato or other vegetable. However, due to
complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government
safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body
within the toy set in 1964.          ^]

Over the years, the original toy was joined by Mrs. Potato Head
and supplemented with accessories.(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Inventor George Lerner (1922–1995)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Baby Nancy, the first Black baby doll to have an
Afro and other authentic features, was inducted into the National Toy Hall
of Fame on Thursday, along with sidewalk chalk and the wooden block
game Jenga.

The 2020 honorees were recognized for their creativity and popularity over
time.

They were chosen by a panel of experts from among 12 finalists that also
included bingo, Breyer Horses, Lite-Brite, Masters of the Universe, My
Little Pony , Risk, Sorry!, Tamagotchi, and Yahtzee.

Baby Nancy was the inaugural doll for Shindana Toys, a California company launched in 1968 by Operation Bootstrap Inc., the not-for-profit Black
community self-help organization that emerged in the aftermath of the
Watts riots in Los Angeles.

On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went on display at the American Toy
Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was the first mass-
produced toy doll in the United States with adult features. The woman
behind Barbie was Ruth Handler (below), who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with
her husband in 1945. After seeing her young daughter ignore her baby dolls
to play make-believe with paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there
was an important niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls to
imagine the future.

Barbie’s appearance was modeled on a doll named Lilli, based on a German
comic strip character.

Mattell founders Ruth and Elliot Handler with a Barbie doll.

Ruth Marianna Handler(Mosko)
(November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002)

On January 23, 1957, machines at the Wham-O toy company rolled out the
first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs—now known to millions of
fans all over the world as Frisbees. 

The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William
Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students from nearby
universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling “Frisbie!”
as they let go. In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren
Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc called the “Flying Saucer”
that could fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. After
splitting with Franscioni, Morrison made an improved model in 1955 and
sold it to the new toy company Wham-O as the “Pluto Platter”–an attempt
to cash in on the public craze over space and Unidentified Flying Objects
(UFOs).

Walter Fredrick "Fred" Morrison
(January 23, 1920 – February 9, 2010)

SANDY KOZEL

Aviator Wiley Post ended his around-the-world flight on this day in
1933. He had traveled 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours,  and 49
minutes. He was the first aviator to accomplish the feat. He began
the journey on July 15, flying nonstop to Berlin.

Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935)

The “Winnie Mae” is on display at a branch of the Smithsonian’s
National Air and Space Museum.