I remember two nodders we had when we were growing up. One, a gray velvetine dog, rode in the back window of our family car. The other, made by St. Pierre & Patterson Co., was a 6" tall balding man wearing a serious frown on his face and his arms crossed. On the base read, "I’m Open Minded … Convince Me," but he had a cork in one ear. It stood on the vanity dresser in my sister’s & my room. There was a reason we had it in our room … we were always arguing. Come to think of it, I think she bought it for me. I returned the favor with a gift of a wooden wall plaque that said, "Why just be nasty when you can be a real stinker?"

I found that I’m Open Minded bobblehead today on eBay with a starting bid of $49.99. We absolutely destroyed ours and I don’t even know what happened to the gray dog. But I digress.

Not much history is available about the origin of nodders, but they were believed to be referenced as early as 1842 in a short story called The Overcoat in which the main character’s neck was described as "like the necks of plaster cats which wag their heads."

The modern, popular bobblehead appeared in the 1950s, and by the 1960s Major League Baseball had produced a papier-mâché bobblehead for each team. All were exactly alike with the same cherubic face, but a different uniform. Then for the 1960 World Series there came player specific bobbleheads for Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Willie Mays, but they still all had the same face! Lego, who had an exclusive agreement with Sports Specialties of Los Angeles for distribution, manufactured most of the 1960s sports bobbleheads, but they were assembled in Japan. The early figures say "Japan, patent pending." Another company, Bobbie Enterprises, Inc., sold them via mail order.

Over the next decade ceramic replaced the papier-mâché, and other sports, as well as cartoon characters were added to the bobblehead craze. During this time period also the most famous bobbleheads of all time were issued, the Beatles 4-piece set.

By the mid-1970s, popularity was waning and bobblehead production nearly ceased. It was nearly twenty years before the whimsical figures returned to prominence.

By the 1990s plastic had made production cheaper and more individualized. In 1999 the San Francisco Giants in the first bobblehead giveaway distributed 35,000 Will Mays nodders, which led to a resurgence in popularity of the figures.

The variety of bobbleheads has grown exponentially over the years. One can now obtain nodders of musicians from Michael Jackson to Jerry Garcia, of presidents like Lincoln and Clinton, of most major sports figures and even characters from television shows like The Office.

Major League Baseball has been a leader in promotions with specialty nights like Carlos Santana Night. Santana threw out the first pitch and the San Francisco Giants gave away bobbleheads with the battery-operated musician singing "Oye Coma Va."

If you want, you can even get a custom-made bobblehead manufactured from a photo of your favorite pet, the graduate in your family or even a wedding cake topper for that very special day. Just search for custom bobbleheads on the Internet.

Reds  Bobblehead with a Buy-It-Now price of 199.99

This 1964 bobblehead set was found on eBay in Simi Valley CA with a Buy-It-Now price of $499.99

This recent Red Sox bobblehead asking price was 14.99

Vintage Browns Bobblehead with a BIN price of 249.95