The best-selling PEZ dispenser in history is Santa Claus.
The piece on the back of the dispenser that pushes the candy out is called a "kicker."
There are 12 candies in each package of PEZ.
The PEZ Pals, made in the 1960s, all had the same generic face, but various accessories were added to create a pirate, ringmaster, nurse, engineer, maharaja and other characters.
Collectors are called PEZheads; the first PEZ convention was held in 1991.
PEZ Minis are found inside small eggs that are sold in Japanese vending machines.
The first living people to be depicted on PEZ dispensers were the owners of Orange County Choppers, a motorcycle company featured in TV's "American Chopper." The dispensers were released in 2006.
The candy is made at PEZ's American headquarters in Orange, Conn. The dispensers are manufactured in Austria and other countries.
Coffee, licorice and chlorophyll were once PEZ flavors.
New flavors introduced in 2011 were strawberry-vanilla and raspberry lemon. Others (not all are available in the United States) are strawberry, lemon, grape, cherry, raspberry, orange, chocolate, cola, sour blue raspberry, sour green apple, sour watermelon and sour pineapple.
Sources: Paul Turley, South Ogden; www.pez.com
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