Candy Dish Blog

Just when you thought all the Peeps contests had passed you by, here is another opportunity to play with the little marshmallow guys. National Geographic Traveler has a Peeps contest. The idea is to take photos of Peeps in interesting travel destinations. Too bad I didn’t bring Peeps with me to Wat Phra Kaeow in Bangkok, the San Felipe Church in old town Albuquerque or my favorite crepe restaurant in Toronto, where Ronen plays accordion and the owner, Veronique, always gives me a hug. I will have to plan better next time I hit the road. Of course, we have some Peeps-worthy stuff right here in DC as well.

Where will you take some Peeps to photograph them?

It’s getting toward that time of year when we see more eggs, pastel colors and of course chocolate, which is a perennial favorite among those of us here at NCA. Easter season is upon us. The Peeps are flocking back home and before long, Tori will be making s’mores out in the woods with her camping friends.

Thanks to Frances Civello, who makes all manner of wonderful photos, for this one. It really brings the springtime into my heart as the last of the snow seems to be melting.

Do you want your candy photos featured here? Submit them to the Candy Dish Blog Flickr group. We want to see your candy photos and so does the rest of the world!

We recently wrote about a Halifax, NS man who has collected more than 3000 PEZ dispensers. Little did I know that in our own Candy Dish community we had our own set of PEZ collectors.

I got a direct tweet from loyal follower Amanda, who has a large collection as well. Hers is just over one-sixth the size, coming in at 551 dispensers. You think that’s impressive? She is not only a collector, but an organized one, with a spreadsheet to keep track of all she has amassed thus far. I asked her what she does professionally and it turns out that she is a production manager for a diamond jewelry manufacturer. Just think – surrounded by all that bling and she loves to come home to PEZ. That’s a real testament to how much she loves the little plastic guys.

I interviewed Amanda through email:

First, how long ago did you start collecting these?
I started collecting about 13 years ago when I saw a PEZ display full of Muppets.

Which did you acquire first?
They were too cute to pass up so I started with Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and Kermit.

Which is your favorite?
My favorite is one I don’t have yet, a giraffe! If I had to pick one that I did have in my collection, it would be my Popeye.

Is collecting these a hobby done out of love or are these an investment?
I collect completely out of love. They are definitely not an investment as a collection only holds as much value as it is worth to another collector. Another collector might think that my collection is worth less than what I’ve invested based on the wide availability of most of the characters in my collection. They might think it’s worth more. Make sense?

Can you find them, say, if you wanted to show off a particular one?
I can absolutely find them! I have to be oh-so-careful taking them out though because I don’t want to start a domino effect.

And what happens if you get another Speedy Gonzalez one and there just isn’t room for it with the other Looney Tunes characters? Does he go on another shelf or does a whole group of them have to find room somewhere?
I’m actually pretty much out of room in this case. I’ve had 2 additional shelves made for it and I still have run out of room. My plan now is just to store all of the new ones until I’ve accumulated enough to start a second case or maybe get a bigger one. My mom & dad purchased this case for me several Christmases ago with the intention of me using it for fancy dishware. I think it makes a much better display case for my PEZ. On a side note, I have 2 Rubbermaid storage bins that are full of duplicates and other PEZ paraphernalia stored in a closet…. I guess I’m going to have to add a third for all of the new purchases. This is where my spreadsheet comes in handy – even if it’s stored away and I can’t see it, I know I have it.

Do you have a family who has strong feelings about this collection?
No but everyone who sees it loves it and everyone can always pick out a favorite character or two. Friends and family are very sweet and pick up one when they’re out shopping and give it to me because they are “sure I don’t have one of these already”. 99% of the time I already do.

Thanks, Amanda, for being a good sport and answering my Mike Wallace-style probing questions. Anybody else have a large PEZ dispenser collection? Let’s really give that Canadian fellow a run for his money. It may not be much of a run, as the Canadian dollar is currently almost at par with the U.S. dollar, but we can give it a good try nonetheless.

I was looking at iPods recently and saw some of those really tiny iPod Shuffle things on eBay. It struck me that they would be about the right size to fit in a PEZ dispenser. I am all about homemade stuff, doing things cheaply and can make just about anything with PVC pipes and bamboo. MacGyver has nothing on me.

I was excited to get down to business with my idea until I searched online and saw that Harry McCracken of Technologizer had already done this. He said it was a tight squeeze and that he would not do this with a PEZ dispenser he cared about, but that it was definitely possible.

Even cooler is that one guy made some PEZ MP3 players commercially, but unfortunately it looks like he went out of business, since the link to his Web site no longer works. I think it’s a great idea.

PEZ Dispensers by josh.liba.

I saw this commercial this weekend while watching Law and Order. Let’s face it – Law and Order is the common thread that defines the human condition, it being on almost any time of the day or night. This is one of the few commercials that has made me laugh out loud. The attack ostrich is hilarious. Have you seen any commercials like this recently that really tickled you?

Dust off your ballgowns and tuxedos, friends.  The Academy Awards are this weekend.  I hope you have a fabulous viewing party to attend.  Check out the recipe section of our Web site to find some fabulous treats you can share with your fellow viewers.  In honor of the occasion, I thought I would share some of my picks for the top times candy has guest starred in hit movies.

Top Five Candy Moments in Hollywood:

1. E.T. Phone Home 
In 1982, Americans fell in love with a small, brown alien and his favorite candy, Reese’s Pieces. The main human character, Elliott, uses them to lure the loveable extraterrestrial out of hiding.
DID YOU KNOW? When Hershey was approached about participating in the movie, the first idea was to use the Hershey’s Kiss. But, since that was already a well-known brand, some really savvy marketer at Hershey came up with the idea to use Pieces instead. I hope that guy got a big raise.

2. It’s No Big Deal 
A Baby Ruth tossed into a swimming pool creates major havoc when it’s mistaken for something else in Caddyshack. Audiences were disgusted and delighted when Bill Murray’s character discovers it and takes a big bite.
DID YOU KNOW? The Curtiss Candy Company once sponsored a Baby Ruth airplane promotional tour. Before landing at each tour stop, the passenger would drop Baby Ruth candy bars tied to small parachutes to the crowds. Keep your eyes on the sky … you never know what might happen.

3. That’s Easy. Pez.
In Stand by Me, our coming-of-age heroes get their first taste of life and freedom when they set out to find a dead body. Around the campfire one night, Vern says to his friends, “If I could only have one food to eat for the rest of my life? That’s easy. Pez. Cherry-flavored Pez.”
DID YOU KNOW: When the movie came out in 1986, cherry-flavored Pez candies were not available in the U.S. (although they were available in 1959 when the movie took place). They were not re-introduced until around 2006.

4. We Elves Try to Stick the Four Main Food Groups
At 6-foot-3, Will Ferrell may not have had a lot of luck passing as an elf at the North Pole, but his character in Elf, Buddy, definitely embraced the lifestyle – especially concerning food. ”We elves try to stick to the four main food groups,” he says. “Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”
DID YOU KNOW? Buddy the Elf went through great lengths to make his way to New York City to eat sugarplums with his dad. He passed through the “seven levels of the Candy Cane Forest, through the sea of swirly gum drops and then … the Lincoln Tunnel.”

5. God, I Wish Had Your Discipline
In Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, the girls prepare to dazzle their former classmates with a fake success story. Romy also prepares by losing weight on her new fat-free diet consisting of nothing but gummi bears, jelly beans and candy corn.
DID YOU KNOW? Gummi bears also feature prominently in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. When Principal Rooney boards the school bus at the end of the movie, one of the kids offers him a gummi bear and says, ”It’s been in my pocket; they’re real warm and soft.” Euw.

There are, of course, many other great moments – The Lollipop Guild from the Wizard of Oz and both Wonka movies, for example.  What’s your favorite?

This just in – Miley Cyrus loves gummy bears! OMG LOL it’s so like we’re twins or something!‡

Wait a second – who doesn’t love gummy bears? Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that this gummy bear thing even needed to be mentioned? Loving them is simply part of the human experience, I thought. Even Miley’s father, with his giant mullet and achey breaky heart, can be cheered up by the little guys.

Other celebrity classic candy favorites include Jerry Seinfeld, who loves Bit-O-Honey. To me, Bit-O-Honey tastes like childhood. I remember my mother saying that she loved them too. Great stuff.

Another of my favorites, Callie from The Real World DC, loves Tic Tacs. What? You don’t know Callie? She is the cute blonde one. You have never seen the show? Some friends and I watch it because it was shot here in DC. Otherwise, I would likely never have seen it either. But back to Callie. She seems like the nicest of all the people cast for the show, and she loves a classic candy. What’s not to love about her?

Well, the celebrities have weighed in. What classic candies rank among your favorites?

‡Miley Cyrus and I are not twins, just for the record. Truth be told, I wouldn’t even recognize her if I saw her on the street, much to the horror of my nieces, who love her. I don’t think I have ever seen her in anything she has done. She is a star of a very different generation. But she loves the gummy bears, so deep down she is my soul mate.

Gummy Bear by fdecomite.