Saturday, March 31, 2018

Burlingame's Pez Museum

We had time to kill this past Tuesday as we waited for our evening flight to Colorado.  So the boys and I headed over to the nearby city of Burlingame to check out a listed attraction:  The PEZ Museum.

Yep, the peppermint candy dispensers....there's a museum of them along with some other cool vintage devices and other historical toys/games.

It's a teeny tiny establishment, very cozy and you get a short tour of the place by the man who takes your $5/person fee.  I had actually had gone with some doubt in my mind but desperate to kill time.  In fact, I ended up enjoying it quite a lot as some of the older toys and devices reminded of simpler times.

 PEZ - a contraction of the German word for Peppermint
The candy is made in Austria

 A collection of vintage "ray guns", the one on top
you loaded with a small piece of live coal to produce smoke rings!

 The first TV Remote by Zenith.
It reminded me of an early role for me, as the family's
TV Channel Changer

 Not as successful for Steve Wozniak as the Apple Computer
The TV remote proved too complicated for the average user.

 A collection of vintage TV remotes, I actually
owned the phaser remote in the top right 

 Mario Brother's themed PEZ dispensers

 Created by a fan of PEZ dispensers...

 These guns shot a PEZ candy...

There were also on display, some toys which proved so dangerous that they were soon recalled.
 Lawn Darts!
I remember playing with a set inside a NYC apartment
when I was visiting some relatives I think.

 Containing a working geiger counter, it was recalled
because the jars contained actually radioactive material.

 The original PEZ dispensers before the
use of cartoon and other heads became prevalent

 I didn't know Ebay had its start as a website created
to help ebay's creater's wife sell parts of her PEZ dispenser collection

 Another recalled game

Even the computer used to track fee transactions
for the museum was vintage!

If you're even near Burlingame, CA and have about an hour to kill, I recommend you visit the PEZ museum, it's quite interesting in its own way.


RichardM said...

Interesting. I never had a Pez dispenser as a kid. But do remember some of those recalled toys. I remember seeing the cloud chamber science kip and played with lawn darts. Notice that the Wozniak remote is the same beige plastic as all of the early Apple computers.

Interesting find.

redlegsrides said...

It’s a teeny place but memories-evoking

Trobairitz said...

That is interesting. Who know there were folks that collected Pez dispensers. I like that they had so many other vintage items tin there too.

Didn't we all start out as our parents remote? And moving rabbit ears too.

redlegsrides said...

Ah yes, Trobairitz, the adjustment of the rabbit ears antenna! I'd forgotten that!

VStar Lady said...

I never got a Pez dispenser but I still recognize them ...and when I see them today, I want to buy one. Cool museum.

redlegsrides said...

Cool indeed VStar Lady...especially when one is trying to entertain one's sons before a flight home.

SonjaM said...

I used to collect PEZ dispensers when I was little, and sold them later to collectors. Made a few bucks back then. Recalled games and kid's stuff... reminds me of the fact that Kinder eggs have been banned from the US...

redlegsrides said...

so, SonjaM, you were one of those people eh? You'd like this museum then! I hadn't heard those Kinder eggs were banned.