| The picture below shows larger front and back views of the (6) Small Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal Toy Prize Sweet Heart Jewelry Charms in this lot. These prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1910s to the 1930s. Each of these has tiny scrollwork designs. The three smaller ones are two sided, and the three larger ones are one sided. They are not marked and the maker is unknown. The larger ones are also marked “SWEET” as in Sweetheart. These would work well on a charm bracelet or as pendants on necklaces. One is painted blue. Some have a silvered finish, and some have no finish at all, as made. 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 six of these for one price! To judge the sizes, the larger heart charms each measure about 5/8'' x 3/4''. These appear to be in near mint to mint condition as pictured. |
