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A spud gun is a small children's toy gun used to fire a fragment of potato. To operate, one punctures the surface of a potato with the gun's hollow tip and pries out a small pellet which fits snugly in the muzzle. Squeezing the grip causes a small build-up of air pressure inside the toy which propels the projectile. The devices are usually short-range and low-powered.
Early history
The first spud gun was invented during the Great Depression when few people would think of wasting a potato. The original inventor sold his patent to E. Joseph Cossman for USD$600 after World War II. Cossman, the brother-in-law of "Uncle" Milton Levine discovered there was a potato glut at the time and through an advertising campaign sold two million spud guns in six months.
References
Spud gun Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA