An Afternoon With Shae

In 2007, I got to meet one of my online NASCAR friends, Shae, in person. We bummed around San Francisco for a day, and had a marvelous time.

Fast forward to yesterday--Shae is in California for a whirlwind visit, and we had one afternoon to meet up. I drove to Sunnyvale, where she had been visiting her aunt and uncle, to bring her back to Stockton, where one of her best friends lives. We had some time to kill, so I made a suggestion.

"Well, we can take 880 back and go straight back towards Stockton, or we can take 101 north and stop in Burlingame. There's a Pez Museum."

"We have to go."

I knew there was a reason I liked this lady.

So we stopped in Burlingame, to see the tiny but oh-so-fun Pez Museum. The proprietor has a small storefront shop. The front half is a shop, the back half is the museum. He has one of every Pez dispenser ever made, and tons of other memorabilia. It's obvious that he has a lot of fun sharing his collection, and we had fun taking a look around and chatting with him.

Did you know that Pez are made in Austria? They originally came in only peppermint flavor--PfeffErminZ. Are you seeing where the name came from? The poster pictured below is an original poster--the first Pez dispensers did not have cartoon heads on them, as shown.

The museum also has a small display of other classic toys, including a favorite of Aaron and I. The original Legos came in tiny boxes, so you had to buy a lot of them if you wanted to build anything good. You know, from time to time, I still have urges to play with Legos.

There was one case that housed the "Bad Toys" that have been recalled and/or discontinued for various reasons The atomic kit below was found to have radioactive chemicals in the little jars! (This set, in its original box, has to be worth a lot of money.)

This Cabbage Patch Kid had a mechanical jaw that "chewed" food. Cute, right? (Or not.) It also chewed tiny child fingers and hair, making it a big NO for many parents. Discontinued!

Apparently the Peanuts Pez dispensers are no longer being made, so if you find them, hold on to them (or sell them on eBay for profit).

The first Pez dispenser to have a head was the Casper the Ghost dispenser.

A Pez vending machine!

This was discontinued after about 3,000 were made because the teeny, tiny parts presented a choking hazard. I looked at the man as he explained this and said, "And you've got unopened, original packaging. That has to be worth a lot of money."

"Five thousand dollars," was his blithe reply.

Tinker Toys! Aaron and I had some of these, but we were more into Legos.

Peppermint Patty doesn't get a ton of merchandise, so this has to be worth something--still packaged, no longer made, rare character.

The original Mr. Potato Head toy required...an actual potato.

I just thought this was funny:

All three dispensers are signed by the actors who played those roles! There was also a Charlie Brown Pez dispenser signed by the man who voice Charlie Brown in several feature shows of the 1960s. He comes in once a year with a small group of kids, shows them his claim to fame, and leaves again.

Chateau de Pez:

Pez Art!

My booty--a rubber duck Pez dispenser, some refills, and two postcards.

A huge display case full of Pez dispensers:

Mr. Swimmy approves of my purchase.

After the museum, we drove back to Stockton, where Shae's friend met us at my apartment complex. It was lovely to see Shae again, and to have a fun little mini-adventure.