Eduard Haas

Eduard Haas III (born 1897 ) developed PEZ candy.

Haas was born near Vienna, Austria. Haas was born into a rich family—his grandfather being a doctor and his father owning a successful grocery store.

In the 1920s Haas began to purchase peppermint oil from a chemist, and with it, he created the candy known as PEZ”: a small, flat, minty candy in 1927. The name "PEZ" was coined from "Pfefferminze," the German word for peppermint. PEZ gradually gained popularity as an anti-smoking mint; however, Haas decided to broaden the appeal of PEZ. After World War II, PEZ Haas and colleagues developed small dispensers shaped like lighters; the PEZ dispenser debuted in 1947.

In 1952 Haas shifted his base to New York City where he developed a fresh marketing scheme aimed at children. The new PEZ featured varying dispensers with popular figures as “flaps” and colored mints. To this day, PEZ dispensers are sought out as collectors items.

Neither the official website, nor any other online resource, states the date of his death.

ources

http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/haas.html