So Now You Know

Austrian candy executive Eduard Haas invented Pez candy in 1927. The original little candy bricks were peppermint. In fact, the word Pez is an abbreviation of the German word for peppermint.(PfeffErminZ) Pez candy was originally sold in small tins. The first Pez dispenser appeared around 1950.

Pez was originally marketed as an adult mint for people trying to quit smoking. The first Pez dispensers, known to collectors as "regulars", did not have character heads. Around 1952, cartoon heads and fruity flavored candy were introduced. Since then, over 250 different heads have been made.

By 1952, Haas wanted to market his dispensers to children in the United States and PEZ-Haas, Inc opened an office in New York City. After extensive market research on children and his product, Haas put heads on the top of the dispensers and gave the candy fruity flavours such as lemon, orange, cherry and strawberry.

PEZ-Haas, Inc. made its U.S. debut in 1953 at Chicago's candy industry convention and Curtis Allina was chosen executive vice president of the company. In 1973, the first US PEZ plant was built in Orange, CT., allowing the product to reach more customers. In 1983, Scott McWhinnie became "PEZident" and today remains the head of possibly the most prominent collectible company in the world.

The first character PEZ dispenser was the full body Santa Claus with moveable limbs and fine painted detail. Although popular with children, Haas decided to change the image of the dispenser to that which we are most familiar with today - the straight rectangular body with the character head on top that dispenses the candy.

The first licensed character was Popeye followed by Bozo the Clown, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Mickey Mouse. In the 1980s, other popular licensed characters appeared such as Garfield & Friends, the Looney Tunes and the Smurfs. As with other children's toys, PEZ followed the trend of using popular licensed characters from comics, cartoons and movies already familiar to their target market. In 1987, feet were added to PEZ dispensers to make the characters more lifelike and in the past three years, PEZ has released a series of accessories for their dispensers such as clothing and costumes.

Pez dispensers have appeared in such movies as "The Client", "Stand By Me", and "E.T. The Extraterrestrial". A Tweety-Bird Pez had a recent guest appearence on "Seinfeld." Besides popular T.V. and movie characters, Pez has created many characters of their own, the latest being the Pez-A-SAURS. Other Pez character series include "Pez 'N Pets", "Mr. Ugly and Friends", "Pez Pals", and "Pez Circus Characters."