MEMORIES of childhood come flooding back to most when you speak about the Pez dispenser.

The unique candy offering that allowed you to personalise your packaging to your favourite characters was a massive hit with children all over the world.

What is a Pez dispenser?

First created as an anti-smoking product, the first Pez candies "Pez drops", didn’t originally come in dispensers but were instead packaged in metal tins or foil-paper wrapping.

Pez tablets spent more than 20 years without a handy carrying container.

It was soon realised that customers wanted a quick way to pick out a tablet with one hand.

The company hired an engineer to address the problem and in 1949 the first Pez dispensers were sold at the Vienna Trade Fair.

However, the original dispensers looked more like cigarette lighters than the form we recognise today.

How do you load a Pez dispenser?

Loading the dispenser can be fiddly with temptation growing to eat the candies there and then.

Here is how to load the dispenser in the quickest and easiest way:

• Lay the dispenser on the table with the face pointing upwards.
• Grab hold of the face's sides with your thumb and forefinger (one on each side) and pull the face directly upward.
• Take out a piece of Pez from the package and insert the candy down the shaft (vertically).
• Repeat this filling method several times until all of the candies in the roll have been used up.
• Take the head again, pushing the tray back in, using your thumb and forefinger as before.
• Stand the Pez dispenser up once the tray has been pushed back in.
• You are ready to go, now it is time to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

While this is the traditional method for loading, another easy way to load the dispenser is shown here.

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What Pez dispensers are rare?

Some dispensers have really hit the headlines as their true worth today has rocketed.

Here is a rundown of the nine editions to really look out for.

Snow White lavender: 

Released in the 1960s, with its hot pink stem, this one had a large forehead with sleepy eyes to emulate the film.

Softhead Dumbo:

Released in 1979, it too had a pink stem but the character head on the dispenser was not the usual hard plastic used for so many other editions.

American football player:

Coming in many different colours and stems, it was all neatly housed in a plastic bag, released in 1964.

Purple Lion's Club:

The Purple Lion’s Club Pez dispenser is an artifact from a 1962 Austrian convention for the Lions Club. Genuine examples have a convention inscription on the surface. The lion head is bright yellow, and the dispenser base is purple.

Chewbacca misprint:

Released in 2021, what makes this dispenser so unique is the fact that the backing to the packaging says Disney Princess on it as opposed to Star Wars characters.

Mickey Mouse softhead:

This is the very last of the softhead editions, released in 1979, Disney never agreed to full production on the product making them incredibly rare.

Witch B:

Released in 1957, it has a plain orange witch's head on a black stem and is one of the oldest Pez dispensers available.

Foghorn Leghorn:

Small production numbers on this 1980 edition makes it very sought after, with its blue stem and large chicken head.

Political Donkey:

Released in 1961, it is thought only two of these were ever made, with the intention being as a gift to US President John.F.Kennedy. While presented to him on a trip to Vienna, the Secret Service sent the dispensers back to the company after the trip.

How much do Pez dispensers cost now?

With sales of the dispensers still going strong to this day, the product can be bought online in this country for between £3-£5.

They include all of the modern characters that would appeal to the children of today, while many retro characters are also available.

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