Brian's Report from the Kleinmuenchen Gathering!!
Thanks for Letting us share it Brian!!
Hey guys, here is my Kleinmuenchen Gathering report. Sorry to my German-speaking friends, this time just in English :-)
What a trip! I had told Guenter a month ago that I was going to Germany for work in June, and that I was planning on coming to Linz for his gathering. I asked Guenter to keep it a secret, because I wanted to surprise everyone when I showed up unannounced and said "hey guys, how's it going!" He agreed, and the plan was set in motion... As it turns out, my work trip was cancelled about a week before I was supposed to leave, but I still went to Europe anyways... You can't keep a PEZHead away from the PEZ!!!
I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday and spent my time there looking around the supermarkets for any new dispensers and candy. It was cool to see the new Euro Finding Dory, Angry Birds, and Batman/Superman on short cards in the stores. Aldi had the new round candy tablets that PEZ makes for the Aldi private label brand, so I scooped up some of those. The supermarket Rewe had the PEZ-branded round candies in the new cassis flavor as well. Jackpot! After walking around for a while it was time to catch up on my sleep and get rid of the jet lag. Had to be refreshed for my arrival the next day in Austria!
On Thursday morning I flew to Vienna and drove my rental car a few hours to Linz. Along the way I stopped at a few Spar and Hofer supermarkets. Hofer has carded refill packs, instead of the traditional long single row of packs on a blister card, they were double packed on a shorter card. I had never seen them before, so I had to pick some up! They had different flavors and card colors so i bought all the different ones I could find.
I got to the hotel at 2pm and checked in. What a nice hotel! I found Guenter right away, and headed to the courtyard cafe where the guests who had already arrived were enjoying a cold beer while the sun was beating down. As I walked in I was greeted by a lot of surprised smiles as they said "Brian!!! What are you doing here?" The surprise worked! After chatting for a bit Guenter asked me if I wanted to see the PEZ headquarters. I couldn't say yes fast enough! We drove over and I was instantly in awe. Seeing the PEZ logo on the building brought an instant smile to my face. We took some pictures outside, and headed into the lobby. Inside they have several cabinets with different dispensers on display. There's also a tall wall with many ads/paintings of PEZ girls and other marketing characters. So cool to see! There's also a giant silver glow in the lobby, definitely another photo op! After we got some pictures we thanked the nice lady at reception for allowing us inside, and headed back to the car.
The next stop was at Guenter's house to take a look at his collection. He has some unbelievable pieces! And a lot of paper / marketing items. A man after my own heart :-) After chatting with his lovely wife and discussing PEZ while relaxing outside on the balcony, it was time to head back to the hotel. Guenter, thank you for opening your home to me and showing me your collection, it was great!
The rest of the day was spent room hopping, drinking, eating delicious Austrian food (of course when in Austria you have to eat Wiener Schnitzel! And in case you never knew, Wiener actually means Viennese in German) and chatting with other fantastic collectors. There were many familiar faces (whom I had met last year at the Vienna VIP Gathering), and some new friendly faces as well. It was great to see Gerda Jahn there, the original PEZ girl herself. Always friendly and eager to talk to the collectors there. She's the greatest!
On Friday Guenter had arranged a factory tour for the entire group at the steel plant he worked at for many years. The first half was more historical / technical steel information inside their museum center. The second half was a tour inside the actual factories where the the steel was made. Who knew a PEZ trip could be so educational! It was very interesting to see.
After lunch (more schnitzel! I'll never say no) we headed back to the hotel and people had their rooms open for selling and trading. I brought with me a suitcase full of current US items that aren't available in Europe, both loose dispensers and various boxed sets, and all of it went very quickly. So glad I brought them! Although the cash didn't stay very long in my pockets, as it was my turn to do some major shopping. I found some old and new candy boxes, a few vintage regulars I didnt have, and some marketing/ paper items. And of course I love love love the Kleinmuenchen gathering dispenser, both the PEZ-made one and the set of 3 Guenter had made. Great job!
After dinner Silvia Biermayer invited me to her house to take a look at her collection. All I can say is wow.... I was able to see so many one of a kind things (dispensers, candy, paper items, displays, clothing... You name it, it was there!) which I'll probably never see again. Looking at her cabinets, I found the dispenser I was looking for... the original Admiral PEZ pal. Had to get a picture with it, and of course send a few teasing text messages to some friends telling them "guess what's coming home with me!!!" I hope most know I was joking (or am I?!?!?). Thank you Silvia for inviting me over, I really enjoyed going through your fantastic collection!
On Saturday morning a lot of us went to the Linz city center to go to the flea market. The center of Linz is absolutely beautiful and picturesque. Unfortunately no PEZ to be found at the "Flohmarkt" (hey I had a lot of competition!!!) but it was still a good time. After a few cold drinks at a cafe, we headed over to a wonderful Biergarten for a big group lunch. This time I tried the lamb goulash which was absolutely fantastic. Thanks Momo for the recommendation!
After lunch, Guenter had a cool excursion planned for us. The city of Traun (where PEZ is actually located) has a museum, and right now they have an exhibition on PEZ. What great timing! The curator there was very informative on the history of Traun, and knew quite a lot about PEZ. They had a working vintage vending machine that we got to try (and keep the candy), and had some items on display that I had never seen before. The giant Mickey dispenser rack was awesome! The curator had kept a binder of old newspaper clippings and PEZ photos over the years- that was really cool to look at!
After the museum it was time to head back to the hotel. A little more room hopping, drinking, eating, chatting... What PEZHeads do best. There was even a wedding party going on that evening at the hotel; it was neat to see some of their traditions and the differences between Austrian and American wedding receptions.
Sadly, it was time to say my goodbyes and go pack for my early 6am flight on Sunday morning. It was so great to see a lot of people there, and it warmed my heart that everyone asked about Porter and our wedding plans. They made me promise to bring him the next time we come. Done! The entire time I was greeted by the friendliest of people, some who knew me, some who did not, and no matter where i went, although I was the only American there, I always felt included and was continuously welcomed. Guenter, you did an amazing job my friend, and I can't wait until I'm able to come back.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen, und vielen vielen Dank fuer die schoene Zeit!
-Brian "Youknowmyname" Jaskolski
