Whistle Pops, as they were called when I first encountered them, were introduced to United States consumers in 1975.
From the research I’ve been able to gather, it appears that the Chupa Chups company may have always been the manufacturers for Whistle Pops, though they were sold under different names in Spain, and in the United States it was the Peter Paul company that first handled distribution.
It is those Peter Paul versions of Whistle Pops that I remember from when I was a kid, and coming out of the L.M. Kallok Collection is this 1970’s cellophane wrapper:
A Flickr pal of mine turned up an interesting newspaper ad from the introductory period of Peter Paul’s Whistle Pops. The illustration shows a different variation of wrapper – with the text featured vertically, rather than horizontally. I’m unsure if those were ever made that way, or if it was a function of early renderings:
The earliest photos of Whistle Pops product match up with the wrapper I have – the following is a form for a mail-away rebate:
I was definitely a fan of Whistle Pops during their Peter Paul years, but I think by the time they changed hands, and added the Melody Pops extension, I had moved onto other flavors. By the early 80’s, Keebler was handling Whistle Pops, and the name had changed to Whistling Pops. I have a pair of trade ads that showcase these, but first, here’s a 1980’s wrapper:
It’s clear that Whistling Pops and Melody Pops thrived into the 1980’s, and they even received a cereal tie-in on a Kellogg’s Corn Pops box. My pal Gregg has this one in his collection:
I don’t recall seeing Whistle Pops or Whistling Pops in the last decade, but they’ve continued to be produced and sold, though not in the United States. I picked up a few Chupa Chups Melody Pops in a London candy store, in November of 2011. It was neat to see them again, after so many years.
I have one other part of the Whistle Pops story, and one I’ve only recently come to understand. I’ve had a 1970’s cello wrapper for something called Pita Gol “The Whistling Pop”. I had thought it was a different company version of Whistle Pop, or perhaps something else entirely. Doing some searching on Spanish-translated sites, it appears that Pita Gol may have simply been the name Whistle Pops were sold under. Pita Gol may actually be the very first form that Whistle Pops took. Here’s the wrapper (this was purchased in the United States around 1975):
To add to this, I found the following image on a Spanish-language blog, which shows a more contemporary “Pita Gol” but featuring the Melody Pops graphical mascot:
That’s all I’ve got for the musical candy-classic known as Whistle Pop. See you back here tomorrow for a delicious edition of Wacky Wednesdays.
I think Air Heads is currently making a line of Whistle Pops that look similar to the old ones.
Thanks for putting all of this history into one place. There’s not much out there, usually, regarding this kind of stuff.
Jason & other readers – since we’re on the topic of musical candy, do any of you remember a wax harmonica or pan flute? This would be the 70s perhaps early 80s.
You might be thinking of the Wowe-e Whistle. The ones I recall were Halloween themed. Like so many cool things from the past, I don’t believe they are available anymore.
Toot Sweet
1968, Mattel
My Mom designed the original artwork for the whistle pop. She was working for an advertizing company in Baltimore at the time, and made 50$
My grandfather, Walter M. Broderick, invented the American version of the Whistle Pop and sold the patent to Peter Paul for the paltry sum 0f $2000. The concept he created was shaped like a policeman blowing a whistle.
Does anyone remember big orange Halloween lollipops not sure if they were 25 cents or 50 cents but they had a choice of a witch , bat , ghost or pumpkin on them . Trying to find pics but no luck .
Any tie in to Toot Sweets from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Not that I’m aware of, Bill. But that’s a fascinating consideration.