| The picture below shows a larger view of all (5) Small Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal Toy Prize Tobacco Pipes in this lot. These prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1910s to 1920s. The pipes are not marked, and the makers are unknown. They do not have a hole that goes through them, and can not be used for smoking. The three on the left all have a horse on the stem, and scroll designs. The top two have curved stems and the bottom one is straight. It is hard to see in the picture, but the top one has a light green ink finish. The center, and bottom ones have no finish, as made. The two pipes on the right each have a design on the bowl and a charm loop to hang them on a charm bracelet or as a pendant on a necklace. The top one has no finish, as made, and the bottom one has a silvered finish. 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. All five of these miniature pipes for one price! To judge the sizes, the left middle one measures about 1-1/16'' long. They appear to be in mint condition as pictured. |
