Vincent Price's Shrunken Heads

Gabe Adiv snapped this photo of a c.1975 Vincent Price Shrunken Head kit for sale at a Brooklyn flea market. The shrunken heads were made from shriveled apples. For budding PT Barnums, this kit was far more interesting than a lame plastic potato head. X-Entertainment has more on Vincent Price's Shrunken Heads.

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Johnny Cat

OMFZog! I got this for Xmas one year, and totally loved it. Impressed the hell out of the kids on the block. Also: probably the main reason I started getting into Vincent Price movies.
peter313

I remember my big brother got this for Christmas way back in 1976 and he would make the coolest shrunken heads. We still have this toy at my Mom’s house in the original box and I think I’ll make some shrunken heads with my kids at Thanksgiving this year. I found instructions online for how to do it yourself:
http://www.fabulousliving.com/component/resource/article/584/20278
GeekMan

Suddenly I wonder if this is what that The Simpson’s “Vincent Price’s Egg Magic” set was parodying, or if it was just a Batman-Egghead joke.

OR BOTH.
Anonymous

A place I worked with had one of these, I think Rob Zombie bought it when he came in one day. For reals, yo. I heart Vincent Price.
EH

Yes, this was not uncommon in the 70s, so much so that in my 80s high school there was a girl who was nicknamed “shrunken apple head.”
Anonymous

I still have my shrunken heads! :)

http://www.zooass.com/whoweare/sir/shrunken.shtml
Anonymous

I don’t remember seeing this in my mom’s cookbook by him…
Anonymous

This exact same kit was re-marketed in countless ways. There was a “old lady doll” kit for the girls, and, er. Well, that was about it.

I remember kids getting these as presents in the 70s.

Basically, there was a craze for recreating traditional craft items as kits to be sold to urban kids via the craft and hobby outlets that were springing up like mushrooms in every mall.
nanuq

Nowadays you can get the real thing on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/REPLICA-Skull-Tsantsa-RARE-CURIO-Shrunken-Human-Head_W0QQitemZ270288772243QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270288772243&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318
Anonymous

I had one of these. If you took the time to carve a good face out of the apple after the cheaply made dehydrator would make a creepy little shrunken apple head.
Secret_Life_of_Plants

I had this.
David Pescovitz

Did it bring you much joy?
gollux

Gosh, you had to have a kit to do that?

I grew up in an apple orchard and we made these every fall. Shrunken everything, not just heads. Carve to your heart’s delight and sit it on the fireplace mantle in a saucer. After its dessicated down, add a little immaginitive water color and then take it to school and see who you can freak out.
Anonymous

I had a book of crafts for young kids when I was growing up, that showed you how to make these. It was considerably less ghoulish, though. More like creating granma, or other friendly old folks.
Anonymous

Oh, I was just thinking about these the other day. This kit was on the long list of things I wanted desperately as a child but which were never bought by my cruel, wicked parents.
Anonymous

I didn’t need this kit, I did this on my own. Minus the hair, I just did the apple heads. Kinda fun. All you need is an apple, a knife, and lemon juice or vinegar.