| The picture below shows a larger side views of this Rare Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal & Rubber Toy Prize Revolver Pistol Squirt Gun. This is the only complete and undamaged sample of one of these that I have ever even seen. Normally, if you are able to find one the bulb has cracked and fallen apart or the lead gun would be damaged. I would not recommend using it because it too could be destroyed. Because it is so fragile, we recommend only using it for display purposes. The prize is not dated but it is believed to be from the 1920s. The toy gun is made of pot metal or lead, with an early rubber bulb. The Cracker Jack prize numbers for this prize is Z-0029, by the Seitaro Arai of Japan. It is marked “JAPAN” on the lead and “MADE IN JAPAN” on the rubber bulb. 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. The miniature toy squirt gun measure about 2-5/8'' x 7/8'' x 5/8''. It appears to be in excellent condition, as pictured. |
