316:, between the ages of 19-23. He was the sole survivor of his immediate family. He told stories of having barely survived random executions. After an attempted escape from one camp, a selection of prisoners were lined up; every third one was to be shot. A guard miscounted, and Allina survived. After another group of prisoners were caught trying to escape, Allina, who had been sent on an errand, was counted among the escapees. He was the final prisoner to have the hangman's noose placed around his neck, but at the last second that prison guard vouched for him, saving him for his usefulness in speaking Czech, German and Russian. This was the theme of his life, his ability to survive.
66:
168:
25:
331:
over and over again. After working his way through the slaughterhouses in New York during the 1940s, he eventually found himself working for Pez Candy, a subsidiary of Haas Foods, an
Austrian-based company. At that time, Pez was successful in Europe, but going nowhere in the U.S. Allina went from an
335:
It wasn't until he had the idea of putting character heads on dispensers and filling them with child-friendly flavors that the company really took off. Allina is responsible for making Pez into the pop culture icon that it became. The first sculpted Pez dispensers (the candy had previously been
354:
Allina opted to move to
Washington State for the latter part of his life, saying he felt a calling to go there. Perhaps it reminded him of the countryside in Vienna where he spent his childhood.
305:
and he and his friends would peer through the window watching the renowned doctor smoke a cigar while listening to his patients. However, Allina never believed in psychoanalysis.
437:
442:
422:
472:
467:
178:
477:
447:
290:
457:
452:
432:
427:
336:
distributed in tins and "regular" dispensers styled to resemble cigarette lighters) were introduced in 1955: Santa Claus, and a Robot.
262:
149:
52:
282:
candy, a design feature implemented while he was an executive at Pez-Haas, then the name of the company that now makes Pez candy.
193:
87:
83:
38:
236:
130:
462:
208:
102:
215:
109:
76:
313:
222:
116:
298:
204:
98:
278:(August 15, 1922 – December 15, 2009) is credited with the addition of heads on the dispensers for
417:
412:
358:
328:
384:
44:
379:
348:
229:
123:
406:
324:
320:
309:
302:
332:
on-foot sales rep. to running Pez's North
American operations for nearly 30 years.
340:
344:
167:
65:
347:'s final speech. Later in his life, he participated in and was filmed for
343:
marched in, and was present in
Argentina listening amongst the crowds to
294:
286:
185:
380:"Curtis Allina, Executive Who Put Heads on Pez, Is Dead at 87"
279:
161:
59:
18:
189:
339:His travels took him to the square in Cuba the day
90:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
357:Allina died at 87 in December, 2009. He lived in
301:. As a child, he lived across the street from
8:
319:In the post-war period, he emigrated to the
194:introducing citations to additional sources
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
438:American food industry business executives
263:Learn how and when to remove this message
150:Learn how and when to remove this message
184:Relevant discussion may be found on the
443:Austrian emigrants to the United States
370:
16:American business executive (1922–2009)
7:
423:20th-century American businesspeople
88:adding citations to reliable sources
14:
473:Nazi concentration camp survivors
468:Czechoslovak emigrants to Austria
378:Fox, Margalit (January 2, 2010).
327:. He learned English by watching
34:This article has multiple issues.
177:relies largely or entirely on a
166:
64:
23:
478:People from Olympia, Washington
312:, he was imprisoned in various
75:needs additional citations for
42:or discuss these issues on the
448:Austro-Hungarian Sephardi Jews
1:
494:
458:Businesspeople from Vienna
453:Businesspeople from Prague
433:21st-century Sephardi Jews
428:20th-century Sephardi Jews
314:Nazi concentration camps
299:First Austrian Republic
297:, in what was then the
289:, in what was then the
291:Czechoslovak Republic
463:Czech businesspeople
190:improve this article
84:improve this article
285:Allina was born in
385:The New York Times
351:'s Shoah project.
273:
272:
265:
255:
254:
240:
160:
159:
152:
134:
57:
485:
397:
396:
394:
392:
375:
349:Steven Spielberg
293:, and raised in
268:
261:
250:
247:
241:
239:
198:
170:
162:
155:
148:
144:
141:
135:
133:
92:
68:
60:
49:
27:
26:
19:
493:
492:
488:
487:
486:
484:
483:
482:
403:
402:
401:
400:
390:
388:
377:
376:
372:
367:
323:and settled in
269:
258:
257:
256:
251:
245:
242:
205:"Curtis Allina"
199:
197:
183:
171:
156:
145:
139:
136:
99:"Curtis Allina"
93:
91:
81:
69:
28:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
491:
489:
481:
480:
475:
470:
465:
460:
455:
450:
445:
440:
435:
430:
425:
420:
415:
405:
404:
399:
398:
369:
368:
366:
363:
361:, Washington.
329:Tom Mix movies
271:
270:
253:
252:
188:. Please help
174:
172:
165:
158:
157:
72:
70:
63:
58:
32:
31:
29:
22:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
490:
479:
476:
474:
471:
469:
466:
464:
461:
459:
456:
454:
451:
449:
446:
444:
441:
439:
436:
434:
431:
429:
426:
424:
421:
419:
416:
414:
411:
410:
408:
387:
386:
381:
374:
371:
364:
362:
360:
355:
352:
350:
346:
342:
337:
333:
330:
326:
325:New York City
322:
321:United States
317:
315:
311:
310:Sephardic Jew
306:
304:
303:Sigmund Freud
300:
296:
292:
288:
283:
281:
277:
276:Curtis Allina
267:
264:
249:
238:
235:
231:
228:
224:
221:
217:
214:
210:
207: –
206:
202:
201:Find sources:
195:
191:
187:
181:
180:
179:single source
175:This article
173:
169:
164:
163:
154:
151:
143:
132:
129:
125:
122:
118:
115:
111:
108:
104:
101: –
100:
96:
95:Find sources:
89:
85:
79:
78:
73:This article
71:
67:
62:
61:
56:
54:
47:
46:
41:
40:
35:
30:
21:
20:
389:. Retrieved
383:
373:
356:
353:
341:Fidel Castro
338:
334:
318:
307:
284:
275:
274:
259:
243:
233:
226:
219:
212:
200:
176:
146:
140:January 2020
137:
127:
120:
113:
106:
94:
82:Please help
77:verification
74:
50:
43:
37:
36:Please help
33:
418:2009 deaths
413:1922 births
407:Categories
391:January 4,
365:References
246:April 2024
216:newspapers
110:newspapers
39:improve it
345:Eva Perón
186:talk page
45:talk page
359:Olympia
230:scholar
124:scholar
295:Vienna
287:Prague
232:
225:
218:
211:
203:
126:
119:
112:
105:
97:
237:JSTOR
223:books
131:JSTOR
117:books
393:2010
209:news
103:news
280:Pez
192:by
86:by
409::
382:.
308:A
48:.
395:.
266:)
260:(
248:)
244:(
234:·
227:·
220:·
213:·
196:.
182:.
153:)
147:(
142:)
138:(
128:·
121:·
114:·
107:·
80:.
55:)
51:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.