| The picture below shows a larger view of the (3) Early Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal Toy Prize Rifle Guns in this lot. These prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1920s or the 1930s. They are made of painted pot metal or lead. One is painted gold, one red, and the other one has no finish as made. These have the Cracker Jack prize ID number ZP-024, and they were from the Cosmo Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois. 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 three of these miniature rifle guns for one price! They each measure about 1-9/16'' long. They appear to be in near mint to mint condition, as pictured. |
