October 07, 2004
A wonderful gift
..or perhaps an heirloom for your descendants.
As Christmas draws near, a friend has drawn my attention to this charming item.
(I notice that someone has zippitied in ahead of me in another place, but you can't have too much culture, can you?)
In my day, Mr Potato Head came in kit form and you had to supply your own real potato. Now that was art.
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Mr. Potato Head is the new Faberge Easter Egg! Two things are much-beloved in Providence, Rhode Island, and they are Mr. Potato Head, who was born here, and Swarovski crystal, which apparently comes from a vast mine far below the city's recycling center. Several years ago, the town presented to the world a brave new wrinkle on the face of public art: something like twenty six-foot (or so) fiberglass Mr. Potato Heads were given to "artists" to tart up. The resulting "creations" were displayed prominently in various parts of town, for the edification of the residents of this, the World's Largest Trailer Park
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Holy crap. I could get a *nice* vintage Patek Philippe for what they want for a plastic potato and some faceted crystals.
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Mr Potato has gone uptown with a vengeance. When I first made his acquaintance he was nothing but an uninspired set of addenda one stuck in/onto a potato, and was not really much fun to play. Looks like now he's become even more tedious, poor fellow. And his skin has acquired a nasty sheen -- is it plastic surgery?
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For some reason it reminds me of the alabaster (apparently) figurines I saw lined up in a Greek souvenir shop window. If I remember rightly, my eye was caught by the Venus di Milo, and moving rightwards I saw with mounting incredulity Michaelangelo's David, an armadillo, and Mickey Mouse.
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And y'all wonder why America has a reputation for tacky gifts...
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I'm with mct -- I'll take the Swiss watch every time.
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