Most people have had PEZ candy at one time or another as kids,
and a surprising number of adults are hooked on the stuff! As it
turns out, PEZ was originally intended to adults and didn't move
into the kids market until 25 years after its creation.  PEZ
candy was invented in 1927 by an Austrian food company executive
named Edward Haas III. The original candy, basically a
compressed sugar tablet flavored with peppermint oil, was
marketed as an alternative to smoking. The name came from the
first, middle and last letters of the German word for
peppermint:     Originally, PEZ came in small tins, but in 1948,
Haas' company introduced the first PEZ dispenser. The original
dispenser was designed to resemble a cigarette lighter, to make
it appeal to the intended market of adult smokers. The company
introduced the character heads and fruit-flavored candy in 1952,
when it brought PEZ to the United States. The appeal to kids was
obvious: candy that's also a toy.  Over the years, hundreds of
different character dispense