tech
Hunting for the Holy Grail of PEZ dispensers
If you were a kid in the United States any time in the last 74 or so years, there's a pretty good chance at some point, you had a PEZ dispenser. But you probably had no idea the long strange journey that PEZ candies took, to become part of American life.
TL;DR
- PEZ candies were invented in Austria in 1927 by Eduard Haas III and initially marketed as an anti-smoking device.
- The PEZ company's introduction to the US in 1952 was a failure until they added dimensional cartoon character heads and switched to fruit flavors, targeting children.
- PEZ U.S. now produces approximately five billion candies annually at its facility in Orange, Connecticut.
- Collector Brian Trauman holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of unique PEZ dispensers, with over 6,481 items.
- A rare JFK donkey PEZ dispenser, gifted to the president in Austria, is a highly sought-after item, with one reportedly purchased for $10,000.
- PEZ historian Shawn Peterson is dedicated to recovering and preserving PEZ dispensers, many of which are displayed at the PEZ Visitor Center in Connecticut.