davy (09/09/82)
#N:pur-ee:5200003:000:305 pur-ee!davy Sep 9 11:12:00 1982 Back when I was a kid, I seem to remember some little belief about the wrappers for Tootsie Roll Pops. I think it had something to do with the pictures of children on the wrappers, but I'm not sure. Anyone remember? --Dave Curry, Purdue E.E. Department decvax!pur-ee!davy ihnss!pur-ee!davy
davy (09/18/82)
#R:pur-ee:5200003:pur-ee:5200004:000:2181
pur-ee!davy Sep 17 11:57:00 1982
Well, the general response to my question about Tootsie Roll
Pops is that the Indians on the wrapers were supposed to be
saved up for prizes, or bring good luck, etc. That's what I
now remember it as being, too.
For those of you who care, here are the responses:
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I seem to remember saving the wrappers because there were
different pictures on them which were not associated with
the color (flavor). I think that we considered Indian
pictures rare (and hence more valuable).
Lance Berc
UC Sandy Eggo
ucbvax!sdcsvax!steve
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When I was in third grade in Springfield, Illinois, Tootsie Pops were
quite a fad. One day a girl (I can even remember her name, this
memory is so vivid) told us that if we saved up Tootsie Pop wrappers
with pictures of Indians on them and sent them to the Tootsie Pop people,
we'd win a prize. The size of the prize was determined by the number of
"Indian wrappers" returned. So we all licked and licked (and
invariably bit before we reached the chewy chocolate center).
By the end of about three weeks we had quite a few wrappers with
Indians on them, so our teacher sent them in for us, and we waited
somewhat impatiently for our prize. Six to eight weeks later, we
received a nice letter from the Tootsie Pop people expressing their
gratitude for our liberal patronage. They continued with an explanation
that they were not currently sponsoring a contest; moreover, they were
interested to know where we had heard of it. It seems that they had been
swamped with "Indian wrappers" for the last two months, with no
end in sight. I don't know what our teacher told them; as it was
a parochial school I would assume it was the truth, but I never
heard of any litigation against the girl who mislead us, so
I suspect the Tootsie Pop people just let it alone.
All this would've taken place in the spring of 1968--is that the
time frame you had in mind? I'd be interested to know of any
other Tootsie Pop stories you might uncover.
Ken Rhodes
Tektronix, Inc.
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--Dave Curry