Most of us are familiar with Pez Candy Dispensers, which have been a candy store staple for decades. But, maybe you did not know the first PEZ candies were created as a quit-smoking aid. The first Pez dispensers (invented by Oscar Uxa in 1948) known as "regulars", were similar in shape to a cigarette lighter and dispensed an adult breath mint marketed as an alternative to tobacco. The candy was invented in Vienna, in 1927, by Eduard Haas III. Haas was an anti-smoking advocate. He thought his peppermints might appeal to those trying to quit smoking, offering them something to put in their mouths instead of a cigarette, and at the same time, acting as a breath freshener. It wasn't until the 1950s, and sales were lacking, that Pez was rebranded as a candy, and the cute little animal head dispensers were added. Did you know that Pez started off as a quit-smoking aid?

The name Pez is an abbreviation of PfeffErminZ (German for peppermint). When making a single piece of Pez Candy it takes 3,000 pounds of pressure to compress the sugar into the familiar brick shape. They sell 70 million dispensers and 5 billion candies per year. Pez products are available in more than 80 countries worldwide. And strange, but true fact: Liquorice, coffee, and chlorophyll were all once Pez candy flavors! Have you ever had a Pez candy?

Original Pez dispensers (the ones that look like cigarette lighters) are still around, and highly sought after by collectors. Today, thousands worldwide collect Pez dispensers and merchandise. With 6,481 items and rising, Brian Trauman of Caldwell, New Jersey is in the Guinness Records Book with the largest candy dispenser collection in the world. He started with a bag of 150 dispensers in 1999 – his mom's old collection. His collection includes complete sets of Disney and Nintendo characters, as well as rarities such as a limited-run Prince Harry and Meghan Markle set from 2018. Have you ever collected Pez dispensers?

Just a few more strange but true trivia facts about Pez...did you know any of these?