What is a PEZ? And where did they come from?
In 1927, in Vienna, Austria, a candy maker by the name of Eduard Haus,
III, developed a candy to conceal adult smokers' bad breath.
In fact, the target market for the candy, labeled as a compressed
breath mint, consisted of adult smokers. The original flavor for the
candy, which is still available today, was Peppermint.
When marketers extracted the first, middle, and the last letters of
the German word for Peppermint, Pfefferminz, they were left with PEZ,
and the name stuck. Convenient, headless PEZ dispensers surfaced in
the late 1940, and allowed the smoker to pop a PEZ to freshen his
breath at any given time.
In 1952, the PEZ revolution spread to the United States, the land of
opportunity, or opportunism, however you choose to look at it.
Marketing gurus, after extensive research with children, concluded
that the adult smokers' mint should be replaced by a fruit-flavored
children's candy, complete with a gimmick. They determined that PEZ
dispensers with character heads were just the vehicle to drive up
sales, and they were right!
Flavors of the ever popular candies PEZ, which are compact, flavored
sugar pellets, have come and gone over the years as peoples' tastes
have changed. The flavors Chlorophyll, Eucalyptus, and Flower, were
destined to be discontinued from the start. Other flavors no longer
with us include Coffee, Licorice, Menthol, and Cinnamon.
The current availability of certain flavors of PEZ depends upon where
you live. For example, in the United States, your choices are limited
to Grape, Lemon, Orange, and Peppermint, while our Canadian neighbors
have an additional fruit flavor, cherry, at their disposal. Overseas,
in Spain, Apple and Raspberry flavors may be purchased, while in
Hungary and Thailand, Chocolate flavor may be added to your stash. One
additional type of PEZ exists; the vitamin enriched IZO PEZ.
Since 1952, PEZ dispensers have become collectors' items, with some
rare dispensers carrying hefty price tags. So rare is the Big Top
Elephant model, that one collector recently paid $3,600.00 to become
the elephant's proud new owner! Over 275 different PEZ character heads
have been designed since 1952, with as many as 48 different models on
the market at any one time. In terms of popularity, the Mickey Mouse
and the Santa Claus models top the list year after year. One set of
models, that of the Flintstone cartoon characters, flew off of the
shelves so quickly, that the rush to buy left the most popular one,
Dino, the purple dinosaur, in short supply.
Technology's attempt to jump on the PEZ dispenser bandwagon has proven
far less successful. One company produces a battery-powered dispenser,
complete with a top that spins and pops candy into your mouth, and
another produces the PEZ watch, which dispenses candy out of one side
of the watch when a PEZ attack hits.
No doubt, PEZ will introduce new flavors and new dispensers in the
future, but no matter what changes are made, PEZ has become so deeply
engrained in our culture, that it is certainly here to stay.
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