FREE MONSTERS - Premiums & Give-A-Ways

[Dr.Terror]

Been after these E-Z Mart cups for over a decade.   Unsure if they made others.   Anyone know what year these were offered?

[Monsters For Sale]

Been after these E-Z Mart cups for over a decade.   Unsure if they made others.   Anyone know what year were these offered?   ...   ...

Those are very sweet!  I'd love to have a Frank from that set.  Unusual to see a Coca-Cola Universal Monsters cup.  They are almost always Pepsi brand.

They can't be terribly old.  They have the narrow bottom to accommodate automobile cup holders.  When the larger drinks (44 oz. and bigger) first came out, the sides of the cups were straight, and the wider bottoms didn't fit in the older cup holders.

Right after I bought a larger cup holder, they narrowed the cup bottoms and my drinks fit too loosely.

[Mike Scott]

Saw some other Coke cups with same size/shape that were from the mid/late '90s.

[Monsters For Sale]

Saw some other Coke cups with same size/shape that were from the mid/late '90s.

Sounds about right.

I think it was the introduction of the 7-11 Big Gulp and beyond that caused the holder problem.  Later, cup holders would have a wide outer ring and a smaller middle ring in the bottom - to take both sizes.

When did the Big Gulp, Super Big Gulp and all that become popular?

(I'm so old, I remember 8 oz. glass bottles of Coke - 6½ oz. when bought from a vending machine.)

[Mike Scott]

(I'm so old, I remember 8 oz. glass bottles of Coke - 6½ oz. when bought from a vending machine.)

I remember a Coke, or Pepsi thing that wasn't a vending machine, but like a big chest of cold water with the bottles just sitting in there. You'd just grab one and pay the gas station guy.

[Hepcat]

(I'm so old, I remember 8 oz. glass bottles of Coke - 6½ oz. when bought from a vending machine.)

Not that old. I remember 6½ oz. Cokes being available in the ice water coolers in every corner variety store for eight cents plus a two cent (returnable) deposit on the bottle. That lasted through to about 1966 in my neck of the woods when the bottle deposit was raised to a nickel. The ice water coolers were gradually phased out and replaced by refrigerated ones in the mid to late 1960's.

I remember a Coke, or Pepsi thing that wasn't a vending machine, but like a big chest of cold water with the bottles just sitting in there. You'd just grab one and pay the gas station guy.

Variety/convenience stores didn't start to be paired with gas stations in Canada except perhaps in one horse rural communities until after 1980 or so. Like I say, those metal ice water coolers were in every corner variety store through much of the 1960's until they were phased out by the refrigerated coolers. And there really was no joy like pulling a dripping cold bottle of pop (or even a bottle of chocolate milk) from an ice water cooler on a hot summer's day!

[Mike Scott]

I remember this kind, too.

[Hepcat]

Yes, I remember those type of vending machines too. The ones I prefer from the 1960's though were these Vendo 56 ones:



These Cavalier 64 ones were slightly bigger:

[Mike Scott]

I think most of us remember those upright models. But we digest! Who knows something about the E-Z Cups?

[Monsters For Sale]

Never head of Rutter's Farm Stores before.  Turns out they have 46 locations, but only in Pennsylvania.

This 5.5 in., 20 oz. Glow-In-the-Dark cup was given out for Halloween in 1987.  Side of the cup says Giacona Container, New Orleans.  Bottom of the cup says Louisiana Plastics, St Louis, MO.

My favorite panel:




The cup seen from all sides:


         Click on picture for full-sized image.

This little cup was also issued for Jiffy Mart convenience stores and Handy Andy Food Markets.


             FREE MONSTERS - FRANKENSTEIN - Cup - 20 oz. - Jiffy Mart


             FREE MONSTERS - FRANKENSTEIN - Cup - 20 oz. - Handy Andy

The difference in apparent shape and color exists only in the poor photos - They are all identical.

[Hepcat]

Wild! I love the vulture.

[Lazarus]

It just occured to me that the Wolf Man cup has Werewolf of London on it, not Chaney.  Neat!

[Monsters For Sale]

It just occured to me that the Wolf Man cup has Werewolf of London on it, not Chaney.  Neat!

Yet the name London is nowhere on the cup - and it says Wolfman (sp) instead of Werewolf..

[Mike Scott]

Yet the name London is nowhere on the cup - and it says Wolfman (sp) instead of Werewolf..

That's what he said. 

[Monsters For Sale]

There is one other example of the graphic used in the 2 cups above.  But this one was used in hard plastic cup complete with handle and lid.

The best info I can find indicates that it might have been sold at the Universal park in 1991.  If so, that would mean it was NOT a freebie.  But I have been unable to get definite information confirming this. Could be true, since I don't see a restaurant chain name anywhere on this one.

Anyone know for sure?







It is one of those borderline quality items that might have been a freebie, since the only other 2 examples were...

I've pretty much decided that these heavy duty 44 oz. cups are w-a-a-y to scarce ever to have been sold.  I think now that they were some of the lower-level prizes in the Pepsi contests - along with T-shirts, sleeping bags, etc.  If that is correct, they qualify as "free" monster items.
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Here is another that I found recently.  I came to me in its original sealed plastic bag.  There was no lid in the bag, so I don't know if it ever came with one.


FRANKENSTEIN - Cup - Universal Monsters - Pepsi - with Handle - 7 in. - A



FRANKENSTEIN - Cup - Universal Monsters - Pepsi - with Handle - 7 in. - B



FRANKENSTEIN - Cup - Universal Monsters - Pepsi - with Handle - 7 in. - C



FRANKENSTEIN - Cup - Universal Monsters - Pepsi - with Handle - 7 in. - D