| The picture below shows a larger view of the (3) Matching Early Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Pot Metal Toy Prize Spinning Tops with Numbers in this lot. The tops are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1920s or 1930s. They are made of pot metal or lead and are of the same design with numbers 1 to 4 on them, and small balls on the post ends. The left one is red in the picture, The center one is painted silver, but it looks blue in the picture. The right one has no finish on it. These could be used for different games, or simply as a toy to spin. These have a Cracker Jack prize ID number of Z-0505. They were made by 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 for one price! The toy spinner tops each measure about 1-1/16'' x 9/16''. The left and center tops appear to be in mint condition, but the right one has a number 3 that had not molded completely when it was made, as pictured. |
