Background
Haas was born at Leonding near Linz in Austria-Hungary into a rich family, his grandfather being a doctor and his father Eduard Haas II owning a flourishing grocery store.
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Eduard Haas
Edit ProfileCareer
In 1927, Haas developed the Pez confectionery. The small "Hasin" powder bags soon were sold all over the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In the 1920s, Haas began to purchase peppermint oil from a chemist, and with it, he created in 1927 the small, flat, minty candy known as Pez (the name was coined from "Pfefferminz", the German word for peppermint).
Pez gradually gained popularity as an anti-smoking mint.
However, Haas decided to broaden the appeal of Pez. 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.
