For John Buchner, it was all about finding something his new wife would enjoy collecting. Scott Schmitz was bitten by the bug at an earlier age, when he accompanied his dad to a flea market. Others have different stories to tell, but all have one thing in common. As Peanut Pals, they dedicate a good deal of their time to learning about and acquiring PLANTERS® brand memorabilia, which usually revolves around the MR. PEANUT® character.
Hundreds of collectors fill the ranks of Peanut Pals, an organization founded in 1978 to give people a place to cultivate their love of all things PLANTERS® brand. These days, there are about 400 members who trade information, meet at conventions and celebrate their affection for the beloved and long-standing mascot.
“The idea of collecting MR. PEANUT® memorabilia, getting together with people who have a like interest and sharing the stories I think is what makes collecting fun,” says Tim Fiala, a club member who began his collection in 2006.
Judy essentially married into the hobby. John had long been a collector of many things; she not so much. But soon after the Buchners tied the knot in 1980, Judy began accompanying him on his weekend excursions for collectibles. Time stood still sometime in 1981. That’s when Judy happened upon a MR. PEANUT® bank resembling one John had sent for when he was a kid.
“I told her the story, we bought the bank, and the rest is history,” he laughs, gesturing to what is the largest collection in the club, if not the world.” In fact, John and Judy — who were on a quest to find something they could collect as a couple — are the proud owners of more than 3,000 PLANTERS® brand artifacts, all beautifully displayed in cases, and on trays and shelves that make their home a living tribute to a brand and an advertising icon older than Mickey Mouse.
Favorite Children
Among John’s extraordinary finds are metal peanut containers that became cigarette packages for American troops during World War II.
“Tin was in short supply,” John explains. “Planters donated a lot of its supply to a tobacco company that packed cigarettes in the containers and shipped them overseas to troops.”
It was a good day when he and Judy landed on tin boxes initially meant to hold peanuts. Instead, a tobacco company covered the PLANTERS® lithograph with a paper label that bore the name of the cigarette manufacturer and the fact that 50 smokes were inside.
Like John, Scott has a prolific collection with a good-sized stash of duplicates available for sale. His prized possession is a rare 4-foot-tall blinker. Nevertheless, he is always in the market for something special, which happened recently when he landed on a statue he didn’t know about.
And then there’s the piece that started the ball rolling back in the day: the MR. PEANUT® statue Scott and his father brought home from a flea market so many years ago. Although the piece was missing its signature walking stick, Scott’s father was confident one could be fashioned from a coat hanger. Upon their return home, Mrs. Schmitz expressed her delight over the find. That was it. Mr. Schmitz made a replacement cane, and Scott began to save peanut wrappers for mail-order merchandise.
Most of those items grace Scott and Angel’s home to this day, and the original purchase is one that is valued above the rest. So much so, their daughter — who admittedly doesn’t share their passion for collecting — understands its significance.
“She knows the story,” Scott says.
Despite being altered from its original state by Mr. Schmitz’s handmade walking stick — or perhaps because of it — to Scott and his family, it’s priceless.
