The first US patent for PEZ,  #2,620,061, was issued December 2, 1952 for a Pocket Article Dispensing Container. This patent was for the original design of the PEZ dispenser which was meant to look like a cigarette lighter.

PEZ was invented in 1927 by Austrian food company executive Edward Haas III. The original sugar tablet flavored with peppermint oil was marketed as an alternative to smoking. These candies were sold in tins until 1948 when the first dispensers were introduced. The dispenser shaped like a cigarette lighter was meant to appeal to adult smokers. The name PEZ was derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz, the first PEZ flavor.