How PEZ evolved from an anti-smoking tool to a beloved collector’s item.
The candy company made a strategic move to find its most successful market.
The following written content by Theresa Machemer
When it comes to stocking stuffers, one product hits a perfect harmony: the PEZ dispenser. Part character, part candy, and all collectible, the trinket has delighted kids and collectors around the world for decades. And yet when Austrian confectioner Eduard Haas III invented PEZ, he set out to corner an entirely different market.
By the 1920s, Haas already owned a successful baking goods business in Austria that he’d inherited from his father. Eduard Haas II founded the Ed. Haas Company in 1894 to sell the baking powder invented by his father, Eduard Haas I, and other ingredients. Eduard Haas III took over management of the company when he turned 18, and created its first newspaper advertisements for their pre-measured cake mix.
The success of Haas baking powder inspired the young businessman to pursue his interests in the confectionary world. An anti-smoking advocate, Haas III wanted to create a tablet that would “not only refresh one’s breath but could also help consumers who were anxious to cut down on smoking or overeating,” writes Shawn Peterson, company historian at PEZ Candy, Inc., in PEZ: From Austrian Invention to American Icon.
Strong peppermint flavoring seemed like just the trick, but peppermint oil was expensive and primarily used in pharmacies. Peppermint-flavored products were usually made by boiling ingredients, which wasted peppermint flavoring because it evaporated in the heat. So Haas Company chemists developed a tablet manufacturing process that’s cold. PEZ tablets are made by compressing confectionary sugar and flavoring with thousands of pounds of force until each brick holds together. The candies didn’t originally come in dispensers but were instead packaged in metal tins or foil-paper wrapping. Read more from Smithsonian.
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