| The picture below shows larger front and back views of this Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Pot Metal or Lead Miniature Toy Prize Cracker Jack Junior Detective Lapel Stud Button Badge. The shield badge is marked “CRACKER JACK JUNIOR DETECTIVE” and has a star in the center. The Cracker Jack ID number for this prize is “Z-0495”. They were made in the 1930s and were from The Cosmo Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois. Many of the pot metal or lead prizes were manufactured by the Tootsietoy Company of Chicago, Illinois. There were other companies, including from Japan prior to World War II. Some of these type prizes were made specifically for Cracker Jack, while others were made as 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. The lapel stud button badge measures about 1-1/8'' x 1-1/4'' x 3/16''. It appears to be in excellent condition as pictured. This particular prize has some white material on the front that may be plaster or some other casting material. Someone was probably trying to make a copy of it. We did not try to remove it. It does make the letters stand out and easier to read. |
