KGO-TV Channel 7 Story

The Bay Area as a center of culture. We have some of the great museums of the world. In most cases, you've already heard about them. But as Channel 7's Wayne Freeman shows us tonight, there is one that continues to remain fairly obscure.
[Wayne Freeman] You never know but sometimes even the most innocent looking storefront may hide a treasure-trove inside. So here we are in the back room of a place called Computer Spectrum. In this display case, the Main Attaction, it deals in bits and bytes, but has nothing to do with computers.
[Gary Doss] Basically, when you see a Pez, you smile.
[Wayne Freeman] That's Pez as in candy and Museum as in people who actually seek this place out.
[Gary Doss] They made a Bullwinkle Pez, but they never made a Rocky Pez.
[Wayne Freeman] {Pez collecting} has changed Gary Doss' life, his wife Nancy's as well. {To Nancy..} How much are you willing to spend?
[Nancy Doss] It keeps escalating. Initially it was like $1.39. Now, a few hundred dollars doesn't look nearly as bad as it used to.
[Wayne Freeman]That coming from a couple that just spent $300 on this 1976 Olympic Snowman Pez {picture}.
[Gary Doss] He is a rare piece. We're happy to have him!
[Wayne Freeman] As any die-hard Pez collector will tell you, the word is short in German for Peppermint. The company began making candy in 1927, the dispensers came around 1952. The rest, as they say, is history.
By now, Pez has appeared on the cover of Forbes as an investment opportunity and hundreds of visitors have signed the Pez Museum guestbook.
[Gary Doss] We've had people from St. Louis, New York and Florida.
[Wayne Freeman] He will tell you that there is so much demand, they even publish a Pez page on the Internet {picture}.
[Gary Doss] On a bad day, we get 300 hits a day.
[Wayne Freeman] So if you're passing through Burlingame sometimes, feel free to stop in to see the Pez Museum. The Doss Family will be happy to broaden your horizons.


KRON-TV Channel 4

"The Bay Area boasts a plethera of museums all filled with semi priceless works of art. So many museums in fact that it seems there is something for everybody.
Tonight our Contact 4 consumer reporter Emerald Yea tells us about a recent addition to the cultural scene that looks back at the way we were.
[Emerald Yea] The sleek San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (picture).. the elegant Palace of the Legion of Honor... and now the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia. The Pez Museum. Yes those wacky little candy dispensers sold all over the world, now have a museum dedicated solely to them."
[Gary Doss] "People from , St. Louis Florida and New York have visited personally and have come to San Francisco to see the Pez Museum."
[Emerald Yea] "Why all the fuss you ask?"
[Gary Doss] "You look at a Pez and its a happy little product. You show it to anybody and immediately get a smile on their face."
(clip shown from the movie "The Client.")
[Emerald Yea] Pez.. an abbreviation for the German word for peppermint was invented in 1927. The little blocks of candy were originally sold in tins.
[Gary Doss] It wasn't until after World War 2 that they came out with the dispensers. And then in 1952 they came out with the dispenser with the cartoon heads, like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
[Emerald Yea] Soon special Pez dispensers were created to celebrate holidays, historical events, and to simply celebrate the trends of the time. [Gary Doss] "A popular one is called the psycedelic eye. It is a giant hand with an eyeball in it. It was made in the '60s."
[Emerald Yea] Some people may sniff at Pez dispensers saying they're nothing but kitch. Just plain junk. But for Pez affecienados, it goes much deeper than that.
[Pez collector at Museum] "There's an attraction on a couple of levels. One is, it reminds me of my childhood. And so there is a very nostalgic factor thats there. It's ended up being just a real fun collectible."
[Gary Doss] "Pez came out in 1952 so all the mothers and fathers now remember Pez and they bring their kids in to share the experience."
[Emerald Yea] "Passing the generational torch of the way we were."

The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 7 pm, and Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free.


GOOD MORNING AMERICA
with Judd Rose

As baby boomers reach middle age, many of the things they grew up with have become museum pieces.
For example,(Story 1 - Barbie Hall of Fame in Palo Alto, California, Story 2 - International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida)a unique collection of hot heads at the Pez Museum in Burlingame, California, just south of San Francisco there are hundreds of dispensers on display.
[Judd Rose] What's the most expensive Pez dispenser in this place?
[Gary Doss] We have an item here called the Psycedelic Eye. It's worth about 400 dollars to collectors.
[Judd Rose] Sounds silly? All we are saying is "give Pez a chance."


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