The Definitive Pez Collection
Idea Stimulator # 11
The Definitive Pez Collection
The Definitive Pez Collection
When my wife and I moved to Easton PA in 2001, we came across a new museum being built just a few blocks from our loft. The founder, owner, and curator Tim Coyle turned out to own the loft below ours.
In 1927, Austrian Edward Haas came up with a new peppermint candy.The word Pez comes from the German word for peppermint (pfefferminz). It was an adult breath mint that he decided to market as an alternative for smoking. From the word pfefferminz they took the first, middle and last letter and came up with the word Pez. Pez was carried around in pocket tins. Then in 1948 they came out with the "easy, hygenic dispenser" that we all recognize now to be a standard. In 1952 Pez was introduced in the United States. Package designers placed heads on the dispensers and marketed the newly positioned Pez to children...
About 1,500 Pez dispensers, all nestled in creative landscapes, fill the Easton Museum Of Pez Dispensers. Disney Pez sit in a 10-foot-high castle. Halloween-themed Pez are displayed in a haunted house. Psychedelic Pez are set beside a real Volkswagen Beetle that appears to be crashing through the wall. There are NFL Pez and superheroes, Star Wars and Charlie Brown, Elton John and Santa Claus. There is also a "Where in the World Is Waldo" game set up on a wall display containing more than 500 dispensers.This got me thinking about how the candy bars of my childhood have evolved; package design, product extensions, flavors, ingrediants, logos, advertising, &c. Of course, some of my favorite candies disappeared. Take a trip back to your childhood and make a list of the candies that you remember. Go to a supermarket and see if that product is still made. Can you recognize it? What’s different? How does this stimulate your imagination.
My Childhood Favorites
Bazzini Nuts
Baby Ruth
3 Musketeers
Bit O' Honey
Good & Plenty
Oh Henry!
Peanut Chews
Jujubes
Jujyfruit
Necco Wafers
Planter’s Peanut Bar
Snickers
Bonomo Turkish Taffy
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Bazzini Nuts
Baby Ruth
3 Musketeers
Bit O' Honey
Good & Plenty
Oh Henry!
Peanut Chews
Jujubes
Jujyfruit
Necco Wafers
Planter’s Peanut Bar
Snickers
Bonomo Turkish Taffy
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups