The Penny King Company
Letterhead Display Card Favorite Comics | |
Country: | USA / English |
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History
Charms first appeared in vending machines about 1930 in US, these were mostly imported from Japan. The charms were generally sold in penny vending machines with a small candy. The novelty of the charms lasted for a couple of years, but died becauce of lack of variety[1]
The Penny King Company (Pittsburgh) started making charms in 1949 for the growing vending machine market. In the beginning they contracted for molds and jobbed out the molding and plating to outside firms. By 1951 the company had opened a new a plant in Puerto Rico for the manufacture of charms and made[2] various types: baseballs, baseball players, baseball glowes, boxing gloves, dogs, Dutch boy and girl, duck pins, basketballs, footballs, funny faces, horseshoes, rings, round charms, skulls and baseball pin buttons. Most of these charms were aviable in either copper, silver og gold plate on in plastic. By 1953 the company became national sales agent for Acorn Charm Vendor parts and assessories, and from 1955 sales agent for the Penny-Nickel Atlas Master vendor machines.
Gumball Prizes with King Feature characters
In 1959[3] KFS licensed the Penny King Company to manufacture and sell buttons, rings and lockets, using 39 different characters:
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Mandrake
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Lothar
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The Phantom
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Diana Palmer
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Devil
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Flash Gordon
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Dale Arden
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Prince Valiant
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Annie Rooney
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Zero
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Jiggs
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Maggie
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Henry
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Henrietta
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Der Captain
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Der Inspector
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Mama
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Hans
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Fritz
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Popeye
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Olive Oyl
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Wimpy
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Swee'Pea
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Barney Google
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Snuffy Smith
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Loweezy
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Jughaid
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Cricket
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Riddles Barlow
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Toozy
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Sut Tattersail
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Tillie Jones
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Clarence "Mac" Macdougall
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Aleta
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Rosco Sweeny
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Lucille Sweeney
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The Little King
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Little Iodine
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Henry Tremblechin
Key Chain Lockets - Charms
The various figures are printed on paper and glued to a metallic looking (silver, gold or bronze) plastic casings. One also find chasings in yellow, blue, red, green or white colors. In addition another distinct series of the charms was double sided with a clear frame, with different figures on each side.
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Atlas Master
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display card
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charm with capsule
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gold/bronze
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silver
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yellow
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blue
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blue
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red
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green
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white
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transparent
Note
The strips (Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Popeye) at the display card are all from April the 4th of 1952. A bit strange since the charms were made late 50s.
King Comic Feature Rings
The rings are mentioned[4] in The Overstreet premium ring price guide as from the 1950s, without any references to the manufacturer. Two different ring bases are known, the second one usend for the Popeye and friends flicker rings.
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ad - The Billboard
May 25, 1959 -
Mandrake
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Dale Arden
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Zero
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Henrietta
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Lothar
different base -
Swee'Pea
different base -
display card
Popeye flicker rings
King Comic Feature Buttons
Theese buttons, also known as the 'Circle C' buttons, are 7/8" lithos. 39 different buttons in this set are known.
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ad - The Billboard
March 16, 1959 -
Mandrake
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Lothar
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The Phantom
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Diana
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Devil
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Flash Gordon
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Dale Arden
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Prince Valiant
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Annie Rooney
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Zero
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Jiggs
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Maggie
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Herietta
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Der Captain
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Der Inspector
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Mama
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Hans
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Fritz
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Popeye
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Olive Oyl
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Wimpy
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Swee'Pea
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Barney Google
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Snuffy Smith
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Loweezy ?
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Jughaid
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Cricket
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Riddles Barlow
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Toozy
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Sut Tattersail
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Tillie Jones
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Clarence "Mac" Macdougall
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Aleta (wife of Val)
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Rosco Sweeny
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Lucille Sweeny
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Little Iodine
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Henry Tremblechin
References
- ↑ "Need to Increase Mdse. Variety Made Charm Mfr. Bulk Op", Billboard 16 July 1955, p 78
- ↑ Penny King Offers Varied Charm Line, The Cash Box, June 3 1950, p 22
- ↑ Comic Buttons to be made by Penny King, The Billboard, March 30 1959, p 69
- ↑ Overstreet, Robert M, The Overstreet premium ring price guide, Nov 1994, p 164, 182