By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

One off-hand comment ended up in a collection of over 90 Mr. Potato Heads for Carolyn Fuller.

Fuller taught math at Hays Middle School for more than 30 years. She was always encouraging here students to participate in class.

“I opened my smart mouth and said, ‘You should participate more than a potato would,’ ” she said.

Her daughter found out about the comment and purchased Fuller her first Mr. Potato Head as a joke.

Fuller brought the Potato Head to class, and the kids thought it was funny.

From there, the Mr. Potato Head collection was born.

Fuller retired from teaching a couple of years ago, but this summer she unboxed her more than 90 Mr. Potato Heads and is displaying some of them at the Hays Public Library in the Schmidt Gallery.

Fuller never intended to collect Potato Heads, but people kept bringing them to her as gifts. They have come in all shapes in sizes and designs.

The original Mr. Potato Head was created by George Lerner of New York City in 1949. It was modeled after an earlier toy, “make a face,” which was a collection of facial parts that you stuck into a real potato. Although Fuller nor her daughters ever had Mr. Potato Heads as children, she said she did remember her cousins have the original “make a face” toy.

“Can you imagine giving that to a child now with the sharp points?” she said.

Parents complained about the rotting fruit and vegetables and the government banned sharp parts in children’s toys, so the head was replaced with a plastic potato in 1964.

The pieces were at one time distributed as prizes in cereal boxes, but the toy was picked up by what is now Hasbro in 1951.

Lerner’s Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be marketed on network television.

“Toy Story,” which was released in 1995, lead to a resurgence in Mr. Potato Head’s popularity and diversification of his personas as evidenced in Fuller’s collection.

Fuller’s Potato Heads include Spud Trooper and Darth Tater from “Star Wars,” Albert Einspud, Santa Clause, a pirate, an Indiana Jones and Superman spud. The Three Stooges are portrayed as the vegetable toy as well as the characters from the “Wizard of Oz.”

The Loony Tunes are also represented, including Donal Duck and Bugs Bunny.

Fuller has a young Elvis, old Elvis and Blue Hawaii Elvis. Hasbro has also made other toys that portray the character like a piggy bank, key chains and toys similar to a View Masters.

She has several Mr. Potato Heads that represent sports teams. The last Potato Head she received was a Pittsburg Steeler Mr. Potato Head, which mysteriously appeared on her on her last day at school. Fuller never discovered who gifted her the Potato Head.

Fuller said she has never met anyone else who collects Mr. Potato Head, but she is sure they are out there.

“It was fun,” she said of collecting the toys. “The kids at school liked it. I had a former student who told me she really liked my Mr. Potato Heads. She said no matter what was happening in class, there was always something to look at in my room. I am not sure that was a compliment, but it amused me.”

Fuller said she doesn’t know what the future of the Mr. Potato Head collection will be. Most of the toys were gifts, and they have meaning because of the people who gave them to her.

“It was just fun, and it just got out of control,” she said.

The collection will be on display at the library until Aug. 5.