1970's Packaging!

1970's PEZ Packaging Styles


In the 1970's, PEZ continued packaging their dispensers in cellophane overwrap.

Also in the 1970's, PEZ started packaging their dispensers on blister packed cards, in addition to the cellophane bags. This early card design consisted of a two-tone green and yellow stripe pattern. The first carded dispensers came with two candy packs, while the carded dispensers in the late 70's had four packs per card. On a technical note... blister-packed product is manufactured in the following manner. The backing cards are printed in multiples on a large sheet of cardstock. These sheets are run through a die cutter that cuts the cards into individual pieces. The plastic blister is a vacuum-formed and molded piece. A web (spool) of thin plastic is fed into a machine that has multiple mold cavities, with each cavity in the shape of the blister pocket. The plastic sheet is fed in, and the mold die halves clamp together. As heat is applied, a vacuum is pulled in the mold to make sure that the plastic sheet is completely pulled into all of the molded reliefs of the die. When the mold opens, a complete sheet of multiple blisters is dropped out. These molded plastic sheets are then placed into another die cutter that cuts the sheet into each individual blister. Next the single blister pieces are placed onto an indexing conveyor with the blister upside down. As the conveyor indexes, the blisters are conveyed along to an operator who places a dispenser and the candy packs into the blister. The filled blisters are then conveyed into a sealing machine. As the blisters pass, a film of glue is placed onto the surfaces that will contact the backing card. Also in the sealing machine is a stack of the die cut backing cards, loaded in a magazine. A single backing card is kicked out, and positioned on top of the ready blister. The completed package is then conveyed into a press, and a platen presses the backing card onto the blister. Heat is applied that helps the glue to stick and causes it to cure. The final sealed blister pack is then discharged onto another conveyor that takes it to a secondary case packing area.
Pez continued selling the dispensers in vending machines. The graphics on the box was updated to a "generic" design. This allowed PEZco to save printing and manufacturing costs, by only having one standard box design to use with any dispenser. The name of the dispenser in the box was pad printed (stamped) onto one end of the box. The 1970's was the last decade for vending box packaging.

PEZco unveiled a new, unique dispenser in the 1970's that was based upon a wildly popular children's toy of that day... Mr. Potato Head by Hasbro. With this dispenser you got a "base" head, on a dispenser stem, that had several holes in the head. You also received a bunch of loose parts that could be inserted into the holes to make different kinds of faces... a la Mr. Potato Head! PEZ called this new dispenser... Make-A-Face. Although this was Great marketing idea by PEZco, they had a bunch of problems with keeping all of the small pieces inside the packaging blister. After a short time, PEZ gave up on this idea and ended up selling the rest of their stock to area carnivals, which used them as "carnie" prizes. Pictured above is a Make-A-Face with Euro packaging. Below is the same dispenser with the packaging used in the United States. Notice the use of staples to help hold the blister onto the card.

In the 70's, PEZ experimented again with using a gun design for a dispenser. This "gun" was simply called a Candy Shooter, and had a realistic hand gun appearance. Like the 1950's Space Gun, this dispenser didn't sell really well... maybe because it looked a little too much like a real gun! Imagine what went through parents' minds as their children pointed a "gun" into their mouth and pulled the trigger to get a piece of candy. Definitely not something that would be allowed on the market in today's culture. Ignoring the whole gun-in-mouth-appearance aspect... think about the potential choking hazard of having a small compressed tablet of sugar shot into a kid's mouth!

The 70's saw quite a few experimental packaging designs from PEZco. In the picture above, PEZ tried using a cellophane bag with a colorful, printed cardboard shelf hanger. Note the unusual plastic tray, apparently put inside the packaging to hold the candy and dispenser in place. This style was quickly discontinued in favor of the blister cards.

This is an interesting item. I am not positive how or why PEZ dispensers and candy were sold in third party packaging. My guess is that this particular company, Carousel Candy Co., might have purchased surplus dispensers and candy from PEZco, and then repackaged them in their own bags. Notice the price on the bag... .79¢. This was slightly more than the price at which PEZ was selling single dispensers... thus leading me to believe that this was discontinued or surplus stock.