| The picture below shows larger front and back views of the (2) Early Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal Toy Prize Pocket Watches with Pencil Sharpeners in this lot. These are similar but they are not the same. The prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1910s to the 1930s. The pocketwatches have times that reads about 12:23:00 and 11:23:03. The watches have a silvered finish, as they were made. They are made of pot metal or lead. The two are marked “JAPAN” in different locations on the backs, but the manufacturers are unknown. Many of the early pot metal or lead prizes were manufactured by Dowst (Samuel Dowst), or the Tootsietoy Company of Chicago, Illinois, but there were other companies in the United States, and including ones from Japan and Germany prior to World War II as well. Some of these type prizes were made specifically for Cracker Jack, while others were made as small novelties, bought in volume, and used as prizes by The Cracker Jack Company. Pot metal or lead prizes were some of the earliest prizes that were used in Cracker Jack boxes from the 1910s to the late 1940s. Many of these type prizes or novelties were also sold out of old Johnson Smith & Company catalog as well as some other early novelty catalogs, also used in fortune telling sets, and some were also sold and used as board game parts. Many of these can be found factory painted, inked, or with no finish at all. Both of of these miniature pocket watch pencil sharpeners for one price! The left miniature pocket watch measures about 1'' x 1-7/16'' x 3/8''. These appear to be in good condition. The left one has a cracked loop at the top, and the right one is missing the knob and loop as pictured. |
