History | |
| The Jiminy Cricket Pez first appeared around 1973 (according to the PEZ Dispenser Timeline (www.pezlist.com/mcpez/timeline.htm) and sold for 39 cents. This was five years after the 3.4 patent was issued. I asked Dave Welch, the resource for the timeline prior to 1994, why there would be so many Jiminy's with 2.6 patents. He told me that PEZ was issuing 2.6 stems up until the late 70s in some cases. | |
| The 2.6 patents were made in Austria and Yugoslavia. When I say "made", I don't know if some or all of the pieces were made there, or just the stems, or maybe they were just assembled there from parts made elsewhere. If you know, please pass it on. | |
| Sometime during the 3.4 patent runs, several changes occured at, or about, the same time: - the hat changed from being connected by a post on top of his head to one molded to the hat that went through the head, - the head spring changed from metal to plastic, - the inner sleeve changed from opaque to semi-transparent, and - the candy button changed from the red Type "A" to the pink Type "B". | |
| The 3.8 patent dispensers were produced at the Reddy Plastic Company in Montpelier, Vermont (probably around 1978-79). See (Yahoo! Groups : PEZheads Messages (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PEZheads/message/45188). As a side note, after Reddy went out of business, the building was bought by National Life Insurance and used as a warehouse. See (Yahoo! Groups : PEZheads Messages (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PEZheads/message/30324). | |
| Since there were many Jiminy's with the 3.9 patent, the production runs lasted until sometime after March 9, 1976, the date when the patent for the 3.9 stem was issued (United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/index.html)). In 1987 the 3.9 patents changed from footless to footed (see PezMistress' Homepage! (http://www.angelfire.com/ny/pezmistress/index.html)). As far as I know, there were no footed Jiminy's made. Although I don't know when production and sale of Jiminy stopped, I believe it was well before 1987. | |
| The Mexican Jiminy's were produced between 1979 and 1981 (?) See (Yahoo! Groups : PEZheads Messages (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PEZheads/message/3786). If you have better information, please let me know. | |
| Also see Encyclopedia: Jiminy Cricket (www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Jiminy-Cricket) for a history of the Jiminy Cricket character. |
Timeline | |
| Dec. 2, 1952 | Patent # 2,620,061 issued |
| Nov. 12, 1968 | Patent # 3,410,455 issued |
| c. 1973 | Jiminy Cricket first appeared |
| Hat changed from "post on head" to "post through head". Around this time the inner spring was changed from metal to plastic, the inner sleeve changed from opaque to semi-transparent, and the candy button changed from the red Type "A" to a pink Type "B". | |
| Nov. 5, 1974 | Patent # 3,845,882 issued |
| Mar. 9, 1976 | Patent # 3,942,683 issued |
| 1978-79 | Production of 3.8 patents at Reddy Plastic Company in Montpelier, VT |
| 1979-81 ? | Production of Mexican dispensers |
| 1979-81 ? | Change-over to "double-post" hat |
| Production of Jiminy ceased | |
| 1987 | PEZ changed from non-footed to footed stems |
| Oct. 30, 1990 | Patent # 4,966,305 issued |
| 1991 | Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia |
| Nov. 16, 1999 | Patent # 5,984,285 issued |
| Dec. 7, 2004 | Heard that the plant in Ormoz, Slovenia, closed and production shifted to China. |