Pez
It's from 1952, before you were born.
- Maker
- PEZ
- Type
- Candy & dispenser
- Debuted
- 1927 (US 1952)
- Note
- collectible character dispensers
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About
As of 2026, it's 74 years old.
PEZ figured out, decades before the rest of the candy industry, that the candy barely matters if the dispenser is fun enough. The little chalky bricks are fine; the mechanical, character-headed dispenser that flips back to launch one at you is the actual product.
Born in Austria in 1927 as a breath mint (the name comes from the German word for peppermint), it reached the US in 1952 and spawned a collecting obsession with thousands of character heads and a genuinely serious resale market.
Nobody has ever bought a PEZ for the candy, which is the most honest thing you can say about a confection — and somehow exactly why it endures.
Pez through the years
Created in Austria
A peppermint candy named for the German word for peppermint.
Comes to the US with character heads
The mechanical dispensers spawn a huge collecting hobby.
