The Best Mr. Potato Head Statues

The Best Mr. Potato Head Statues

You know you're a Rhode Islander (a recent one, anyway), if you remember the civic pride campaign of the year 2000, when Mr. Potato Head, the beloved Hasbro toy, was blown up to 6-foot fiberglass height and customized into dozens of crazy characters. Inspired by the famous artist-decorated cows from Chicago, Rhode Island made Mr. Potato Head its traveling ambassador. On the 60th anniversary of the invention of the toy in 1952, it seemed like the right thing to do to ask Christopher Scott Martin, local culture expert and founder of quahog.org, to share some of his favorite spuds.

Martin says he's always liked "cheesy roadside architecture and goofy public art." As an expert in RI iconography, he pondered the question of why Mr. Potato Head. "We could have had quahogs, or lighthouses, or sailboats," he said. "But someone had to pick up the tab to get this kind of thing rolling, and Hasbro had the moolah." As much many people hated them, Martin said, "kids loved them. Which is why so many lost their arms. Kids' appreciation of public art doesn't stop at mere contemplation. Kids must touch. And climb. And swing."

Photographs: Christopher Scott Martin, quahog.org.

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