“Shrunken heads for all occasions!”
Now there’s a line I don’t think we’d hear in a toy commercial today.
This is Pressman’s Witch Dr. Head Shrinkers Kit from the 1960s, and yes, kids really could make their own little monster heads.
The kit came with something actually called “powdered flesh,” along with molds, a mixing cauldron, paint, monster hair and what the commercial called petrifying potion.
You mixed it up, poured it into the mold, decorated your monster and waited. According to the commercial, within 24 hours the head would actually shrink down.
And then you could collect them, swap them or, as the announcer suggests, “give ’em to your witch doctor friends.”
I did some digging and found that America had a real fascination with shrunken heads during this period, which helps explain how something this bizarre actually made it into the toy aisle.
The real history was very different from the cartoon jungle image used in advertising. Authentic tsantsas were associated with the Shuar and Achuar peoples of Ecuador and Peru and had specific cultural and spiritual meaning.
Pressman itself has quite a history. The company was founded in 1922, and after founder Jack Pressman died, his wife Lynn became president in 1959 — one of the relatively few women running a major toy company at the time.
And believe it or not, Pressman is still around. Goliath acquired the company in 2014, and the Pressman name celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022.
But I’m still stuck on one thing:
Who exactly needed a shrunken head “for all occasions”?
Do you remember this one?
#WitchDoctorHeadShrinkers #PressmanToys #VintageToys #1960sToys #VintageCommercials