| The picture below shows a larger front view of the (5) Small Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal Toy Prize Sweet Heart Key Jewelry Charms. These prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1910s to the 1930s. Four of these are matching and one is a skeleton key of a different design. The matching ones have tiny scrollwork designs, a heart for a handle and two hearts on the key end. Eack of these are marked “KEY TO MY HEART” on both sides. The Cracker Jack ID number for the matching ones is ZP=034 by the Cosmo Manufacturing Companyof Chicago, Illinois. One is painted blue, one green, two have a silvered finish, and one has no finish at all, as made. 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 for one price! To judge the sizes, the four matching heart key charms each measure about 1-5/8'' x 5/8''. They appear to be in near mint to mint condition as pictured. |
