If you read the story of Gary Doss in this month’s Uniquely Northern California, it might resonate with the collector in you. In the mid-1990s, Doss turned his computer store into a PEZ dispenser museum. After all, more customers were coming in to look at his PEZ dispensers than computers.
He has more than 1,000 PEZ dispensers on display at the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia. The museum is also home to the world’s largest PEZ dispenser — an 85-pound snowman that stands almost 8 feet tall — as confirmed by Guinness World Records.
It all started in 1927 in Austria when Edward Haas created a new peppermint candy, an adult breath mint that he decided to market as an alternative to smoking. The word PEZ comes from the German word for peppermint (pfefferminz). They took the first, middle and last letter and came up with the word PEZ. It was short and easy to understand.
“A lot of collectors start because they got PEZ in their Christmas stocking or Easter basket,” Doss says. “People just have a very happy, fond memory of growing up with PEZ. There are many collectors, and there are a lot of blogs on the Internet about PEZ. There are also 10 different PEZ conventions each year in the U.S.”
That gives an indication of the staying power of the PEZ brand. It’s one of those toys that arises again for each generation. So what do you do? You start collecting them for your children and grandchildren.
Collecting is a universal practice. It would be fair to say that most people collect at least some object. Collections allow memories to resurface and for a time, a person can relive the event associated with the collectible. It’s an emotional attachment that inspires collectors to save, store and organize items.
Many companies tried to capitalize on a fad or craze, and before you knew it, the attraction was over. Take for example, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, Hummel figurines and so on.
Why hasn’t PEZ joined that crowd?
It’s a simple toy. It’s cheap. If it breaks, you can purchase another. While new character heads are added all the time, the old favorites are still available, such as Mickey Mouse or Santa Claus. That makes it desirable to more than one generation.
If you have to describe the reasons why a PEZ is a collectible, you have to stop and think that it just means something particular for each person. Like Doss says, there are happy memories tied to PEZ candy and dispensers.
Any company that can capitalize on its product so the brand has such strength is a company that will be around for a long time.
