| The picture below shows larger views of both sides of this Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Pot Metal or Lead Miniature Toy Prize Spring Action Match Stick Pistol Gun. This miniature toy gun operates with a spring inside. You would put a matchstick or a Q-tip in the barrel and pull back and let go of the metal wire rod. We carefully tried it and it works very well. 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. This tiny toy gun measures about 1-1/2'' x 1-1/2'' x 3/16''. It appears to be in very good and working condition with original black paint as pictured. |
