Pez

Company History: Pez (English: /pɛz/, German: [peːts]; stylised as PEZ) is the brand name of an Austrian candy and associated manual candy dispensers. The candy is a pressed, dry, straight-edged, curved-corner block 15 mm (5⁄8 inch) long, 8 mm (5⁄16 inch) wide and 5 mm (3⁄16 inch) high, with each Pez dispenser holding 12 candy pieces. Pez was invented in Austria and later exported worldwide. The all-uppercase spelling of the logo echoes the trademark's style on the packaging and the dispensers, with the logo drawn in perspective and giving the appearance that the letters are built out of 44 brick-like Pez mints (14 bricks in the P and 15 in each of the E and Z).

Despite the widespread recognition and popularity of the Pez dispenser, the company considers itself to be primarily a candy company, and "[t]oday, billions of PEZ candies are consumed annually in the U.S.A. alone".Pez dispensers are a part of popular culture in many nations, an example being "Soul Candy" in the Japanese manga series Bleach. Because of the large number of dispenser designs over the years, they are collected by many.

PEZ was first marketed as a compressed peppermint sweet in Vienna, Austria, in 1927 by Eduard Haas III. The name PEZ is an abbreviation of PfeffErminZ (German for peppermint). The original product was a round peppermint lozenge called PEZ drops. Over time, a new manufacturing process evolved and the hard pressed brick shape known today was created. The product packaging evolved from wrapped rolls to a small tin to hold the mints, similar to the modern Altoids tins. The first PEZ mint dispensers, known as "regulars", were similar in shape to a cigarette lighter and dispensed an adult breath mint marketed as an alternative to tobacco. They were invented by Oscar Uxa. Haas Food Manufacturing Corporation of Vienna was the first to sell PEZ products.

Brief History: Austria is a German-speaking country in Central Europe, characterized by mountain villages, baroque architecture, Imperial history and rugged Alpine terrain. Vienna, its Danube River capital, is home to the Schönbrunn and Hofburg palaces. It has counted Mozart, Strauss and Freud among its residents. The country’s other notable regions include the northern Bohemian Forest, Traunsee Lake and eastern hillside vineyards.