Newest Obsession -- Pep Pins

One of the reasons I love vintage sports cards is that I find them to be a portal into the past. Holding a 1957 Topps Eddie Mathews transports me to County Stadium in Milwaukee as the mighty Braves take the pennant. I can smell the popcorn, hear the pop of Schlitz Beer Cans and imagine Eddie smacking one of his 32 homers over the right field wall.

But it isn't just sports cards, I like anything old that can give me that portal experience. For example, I recently purchased a collection of Pep Pins at the Orland Park Card Show. Prior, I knew nothing about these pins but was hooked immediately.

At first glance, I was transported to 1947, imagining kids fishing through a box of Kellogg's Pep Cereal to obtain a pin. My dad was 10 years old in 1947, I wonder if he had any Pep Pins?

I had also never heard of Pep Cereal before that day in Orland. Apparently, Pep was Kellogg's version of Wheaties and was introduced to the public in 1923, according to Wikipedia.

I also learned from Wikipedia that Pep was the first cereal to be fortified with vitamins in 1938. Pep was a wheat flake that was marketed as a healthy breakfast option with mildly laxative properties.

Early Pep advertising was mainly through print ads in newspapers and magazines. From 1939 to 1941, Pep focused its advertising on housewives, claiming the vitamin-enriched cereal enhanced beauty.

In 1942, Pep changed its advertising focus from housewives to children and began sponsoring children radio shows​ like Tom Corbett -- Space Cadet and The Adventures of Superman, according to Wikipedia. 

The pinback prizes were introduced in 1943 and initially depicted U.S. military units and squadrons. They are about the same size as a penny and are highly sought after by military collectors.

In 1945, Kelloggs introduced pins into Pep Cereal that depicted characters from newspaper comics like Little Orphan Annie, Felix the Cat, and the Phantom. The pins were available through 1947.

Kellogg's also changed the Pep packaging to focus on the comic characters.

Five different series of Pep pins were issued with a Superman pin included in all five series. In total, 86 Pep Pins were issued. Research shows complete sets of Pep Pins selling between $800 and $1,200.

In addition to the pins, you could obtain a beanie to hold your pins by sending two box tops and 10 cents to Kellogg's. 

Pep Cereal was discontinued in the U.S. in the 1970s and discontinued in Canada in the 1990s. Sadly, I have no recollection of Pep Cereal. The 1970s was the height of my breakfast cereal consumption but I preferred the sugary cereals like Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms. Though, if I had been a kid in the 1940's, I would have suffered through the mildly laxative Pep cereal for a few pins. 

​Now I'm hooked on these things and have to complete the set. Anybody have any Pep Pins for sale? Bring 'em to Orland!!