| The picture below shows a larger view of this Early Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Painted Pot Metal Toy Prize Spinning Top with Letters. The top is not dated but it is believed to be from the 1910s or 1920s. It is painted blue and it is made of pot metal or lead. The spinner is in a round shape with letters “A B C” are in the center, and the English alphabet from A to Z is around the outer ring. It could be used for different games, for fortune telling, or simply as a toy all by itself. 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. This spinner toy top measures about 1-3/8'' x 1/2''. It appears to be in excellent condition with some light paint flaking as pictured. |
