| The picture below shows a larger view of all (5) Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal Toy Prize Sledge Hammer Tools in this lot. These prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1930s and 1940s. They are not marked. The Cracker Jack ID Number for the smaller ones is: ZP-0027, from the Cosmo Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois. The larger one may be from the same company as well. One of these is painted green, and another red. The others have no finish at all, as made. Two of these have a charm loop on the handle to use on a charm bracelet, earrings, or as a necklace pendant. The red one is missing the loop, and the left one is missing a bit of the end, and the loop. 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 miniature Sledge Hammer Tools & charms for one price! Each of these measure about 1-7/8'' x 5/8'' x 1/8''. Aside from the short one, they appear to range from excellent to mint condition as pictured. |
