The PEZ Factor(y)! Inside the sweetest obsession

Step into the technicolor world of PEZ! We tour the Connecticut factory where more than 12 million tiny candies are pressed each day, guided by archivist Shawn Peterson, whose personal collection helped shape the Visitor Center. Meet Brian Trauman, the Guinness World Record holder whose thousands of dispensers trace a lifetime of joyful obsession. Hear Emily Tracy’s tender, funny, heartbreaking story about the PEZ tattoo she got to honor her mother. And the hosts of PEZamania, the world’s largest PEZ convention, talk about how nostalgia and candy become community.   Suggested episodes: Discovering delight - and despair - in dumpster diving We have to talk about cuddle parties Take a tour of the John Zaffis Museum of the Paranormal Pawn queens: Tales and treasures from women pawn shop owners Audacious at sea: Wisdom from strangers on a cruise ship   GUESTS:  Shawn Peterson: Company archivist and historian at PEZ Candy, Inc. in Orange, CT. He manages the PEZ Visitor Center, where much of the collection on display comes from his own personal archive. He is also the author of PEZ: From Austrian Invention to American Icon and Collector’s Guide to PEZ: Identification and Price Guide Brian Trauman: Owns the world's largest Pez collection and holds the Guinness World Record for “largest candy dispenser collection.” He has been collecting since 1999 and owns more than 6,400 dispensers  Morgan Rhinehart and Landon Proctor: hosts of PEZamania in Ohio – the longest running collector convention in the world, established in 1991 Emily Tracy: Manchester resident who memorialized her PEZ-collecting mom with a tattoo of her head on top of a PEZ dispenser Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.