PFEFFERMINZ, THE GREAT AUSTRIAN CANDY DISPENSERS

Visiting Pfefferminz in Traun, Austria

The Grandma and her friends have finished their Austrian tour. They have to return to Vienna where they are going to take a plane to Barcelona but, this last day, they have visited one of the most popular and important Austrian factories, Pfefferminz, also known as PEZ in Traun, Austria.

The Grandma is a great consumer of its candies and a fan collector of its dispensers. Before visiting the factory, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 70).

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Pez, trademarked PEZ in capitals, is the brand name of an Austrian candy and associated mechanical candy dispensers. The candy is a pressed, dry, straight-edged, curved-corner block 15 mm long, 8 mm wide, and 5 mm high, with Pez dispensers holding 12 candy pieces.

Pez was invented in Austria and later exported worldwide. The all-uppercase spelling of the logo echoes the trademark's style on the packaging and the dispensers, with the logo drawn in perspective and giving the appearance that the letters are built out of 44 brick-like Pez mints, 14 bricks in the P and 15 in each of the E and Z.

More information: PEZ (International)

Despite the widespread recognition and popularity of the Pez dispenser, the company considers itself to be primarily a candy company, and over 3 billion bricks are consumed each year in the U.S. alone. Pez dispensers are part of popular culture in many nations, an example being Soul Candy in Japanese manga series Bleach. Because of the large number of dispenser designs over the years, they are collected by enthusiasts.

Enjoying Star Wars PEZ dispensers

Pez was first marketed as a compressed peppermint sweet in Vienna, Austria, in 1927 by Eduard Haas III. The name PEZ is an abbreviation of PfeffErminZ, German for peppermint.

Haas created the peppermints using family owned baking powders, and decided to serve the mints in small, hand-size containers. He manufactured a small tin to hold the mints, similar to the modern Altoids tins. 

The first Pez mint dispensers, known as regulars, were similar in shape to a cigarette lighter, and dispensed an adult breath mint marketed as an alternative to tobacco. They were invented by Oscar Uxa.

Haas Food Manufacturing Corporation of Vienna was the first to sell Pez products.

More information: PEZ (USA)

World War II slowed marketing and production. In 1945, manufacturers devised and promoted the Pez Box Regular. In 1952 Eduard Haas introduced his product to the United States, and Curtis Allina headed Pez's U.S. business. In 1955, the Pez company placed heads on the dispensers and marketed them for children. Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse were among the first character dispensers. Since 1950, over 1500 Pez dispensers, including the original character dispensers, have been created.

Pez vending machines were used in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The first German machines were introduced around 1954 and were produced by DWM, Deutsche Waggon- und Maschinenfabrik, and GWS, Georg Wiegandt und Söhne, both of Berlin, Germany. Machines were later introduced in Switzerland and then in Austria, in October 1956; these were produced by Glerios/R.Seipel & Co. and Theodor Braun, Vienna.

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In 1973, Pez built a factory in Orange, Connecticut, U.S. In 1983, Scott McWhinnie became the president of the Pez company. He retired in 2003. Joe Vittoria became president of the company in 2004. Around 2005 the size of the original factory was doubled and the Pez dispenser line was expanded. In the mid-1990s peppermints were reintroduced with remakes of the regulars.

Contemplating a great collection of PEZ

In early 2006 the family of the original founder of the company bought back 32.5% of the stock from investment company PGH for €18M. They now own 67.5% of the company. The headquarters are in Traun, Austria. The Pez mints are produced in Traun and Orange, Connecticut, U.S.

Early Pez dispensers did not have character heads on them. They were what is known now as regulars. A regular dispenser is just a rectangular box with a contoured flip top for dispensing the candy. Toy character head dispensers were introduced in 1955, after the candy was introduced in the United States. There are over 550 unique dispenser heads with thousands of variations.

In the 1970s, three historical figures were created: Betsy Ross, Daniel Boone, and Paul Revere, which were released as part of the Bicentennial series. These dispenser heads were not made to actually look like the people they represented, but instead used generic faces with different accessories.

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Star Wars Pez dispensers have been amongst the most popular collectibles since they were introduced in the 1990s.

The company initially had a general rule against creating likenesses of real people, but in 2006 a limited-edition series of three Pez dispensers were made with likenesses of members of the Teutul family from Orange County Choppers.

The NASCAR-themed dispensers are based on the helmets of famous drivers, rather than their actual resemblance.

In 2007, a limited edition Elvis set was released featuring three dispensers from different periods in Presley's life.

A great collection of PEZ

In 2008, the first Star Trek dispensers were released in a gift set with the seven original series crew and the Starship Enterprise. A second Star Trek gift set, based on The Next Generation series, was released in Fall 2012.

In 2009, in honor of the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, Pez released a boxed set with dispensers in the likenesses of the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, Dorothy Gale, Toto, Glinda, the Wizard of Oz, and the Wicked Witch of the West. Only 300,000 sets were made.

In 2010, Pez released a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs set, featuring a story book. These are the first characters featured on the Short Stem body. Only 250,000 sets were made.

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In 2011, a two-piece limited edition set was released for charity, featuring Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his wife-to-be, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

In 2011, an eight-piece limited edition set was released featuring characters from The Lord of the Rings as they appear in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films: Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Gollum. Only 250,000 sets were made. 150,000 Walmart-exclusive sets were made. The Walmart sets did not have Bilbo. Instead, they came with the Eye of Sauron.

In October 2012, Pez released a limited edition KISS gift set. The Starchild, The Demon, The Catman, and The Spaceman are displayed in a reusable metal gift tin.

The Muppets in a PEZ version

In 2013, Pez released the Monsters University Pez. The characters were Mike Wazowski, James P. Sulley Sullivan, Scott Squishy Squibbles and Randall Boggs.

In September 2013, Pez released the Hobbit gift set. Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, Thorin Oakenshield, Fimbul the Hunter, Radagast, Kili, Bofur, and Dwalin are displayed in a printed cardboard box.

In 2013, Pez released a series of 18 wheeler trucks. There were companies like Walgreens, Nice, Wawa, Safeway, Randall's, up market, Havoline, and many more.

In 2014, Pez released a giant Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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In 2014, Pez released an Angry Birds gift tin. It had Red, Bomb, Stella, and a Minion Pig in a reusable metal gift tin while the dispensers are produced in Hungary and China.

Pez, Inc. has applied for and received patents related to the Pez dispensers, and usually molds the patent number onto the stem of the design. The patent number cannot be reliably used to determine how old the dispenser is.

Collectors refer to the first two digits of a patent number as a shorthand for a given patent number. For example, the 5.9 (5,984,285) patent was granted in 1999, but didn't first appear on a Pez item until 2002. By 2007, 4.9 patented items were still regularly appearing on store shelves. Dispensers can also be found with several non-US patents, such as the German DBP 818.829, Deutsches Bundes Patent, and the Mexican Patent Nr 141,242.

More information: Pez Collectors

Candy is childhood, the best and bright moments 

you wish could have lasted forever.

Dylan Lauren