Wonderful world of PEZ

Working on estate sales often gives me ideas to research and write about here in the Houston Home Journal. We come across a lot of amazing and interesting things when sorting through someones lifetime collection and many times an item will bring back lots of great memories that were stored in the old brain vault. Sometimes a small doll or toy can conjure up memories of childhood that haven’t been thought about since the day you first saw the item. This recently happened when I ran across some Liddle Kiddle dolls and PEZ dispensers.

PEZ was first marketed as a peppermint candy in Austria over 70 years ago. In 1927, Edward Haas came up with a new peppermint candy to market as an adult breath mint that could also be used to help people quit smoking. The PEZ name is derived from the German name for peppermint, Pfefferminz. the first, middle and last letters of the word spell out PEZ! The first PEZ mints used to come in little metal containers. In 1948 the company developed an “easy, hygienic dispenser” which looked like the modern day dispenser but without a head or feet.

In 1952 the PEZ company set its sights on the United States. To make their product more appealing to Americans, they added the character heads on the dispensers, added flavored candies, and marketed them to American children as an “interactive” candy! Well, sales were great and the first PEZ factory was built in Orange, Connecticut in 1973 and the rest as they say is history! The size of the plant was doubled in 1990 and produced PEZ candies 24 hours a day. That adds up to over three billion candies per year.

PEZ has made about 300 different styles of dispensers which have become highly collectible pop culture. One interesting thing to note is that the company does not advertise! PEZ dispensers have showed up in movies such as E.T., The Client, and even on Seinfeld.

PEZ collecting has become very popular and there are websites and newsletters for collectors. Several good pictorial guides have been produced as well. There are so many to choose from and they take up very little display space. There were series of bicentennial characters such as Betsy Ross and Daniel Boone, cartoon characters and comic book characters. There were several weird characters such as Psychedelic eye and Thor the Viking. One way to date your PEZ dispenser is by looking at the bottom. Feet were added in 1987 so if your dispenser doesn’t have feet, it is early than 1987.

As to value, the astronaut and Bullwinkle moose have sold on eBay from $200-$400 whereas the more recent and common dispensers can be bought from $1-$3. Some collector sites offer “new old stock” which means the dispenser was still in a store that closed up and was never sold or opened. Dispensers in their original packaging or a rare color or character bring higher prices. You may want to call your mom and see if she kept your old PEZ dispensers in the attic or toy box! Happy Colllecting!

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