The first Mr. Potato Head commercial hit the airwaves on this day in 1952

Depending on the situation, toys possess a strange capacity to be either adorable or unnerving. There's a reason why evil and possessed toys are a fixture in the horror genre. Toys can give you the willies. Most toys accidentally veer into creepy territory due to their perpetually genial facial expressions. However, some toys are so fundamentally disturbing that they require a full-on rebrand. To prove this point, I turn your attention to the original Mr. Potao Head. 

On April 30th, 1952, Mr. Potao Head became the first toy advertised on television. And while it's quite the historic achievement, I'm sure the ad launched thousands of nightmares right afterward. I defy you to tell me that spud isn't one the eeriest toys ever created. Looking at that ad makes me grateful that I was born in the era of the Toy Story version of Mr. Potato Head and not the Child's Play variant featured above.