The Collector: Tony Birch’s glass containers held candy, then became toys once empty

When Anthony “Tony” Birch’s father returned home after serving in Canada’s Yukon during World War II, he brought gifts for Birch and his sister.

“We were living in Edmonton, Alberta, at the time,” Birch said. “I was 5 or 6.”

The sleek green car and the bright red fire truck were made of heavy glass and filled with candy pellets.

It’s hard to imagine giving children glass toys now, but for many years, the candy containers were wildly popular presents. Adults enjoyed them as well, giving them as hostess gifts or tokens of friendship.

Birch and his late wife loved to browse at garage sales. Whenever they spotted one of the vintage toys, they would scoop it up.

He shrugged and said, “Once you have two, you have a collection.”

Now, he has more than two dozen.

“The toys have flat bottoms with the label glued in,” Birch said. “We never bought one at an antique store. They all came from garage sales.”

Reaching into a display cabinet, Birch pulled out a clear glass tank and turned it over. A yellowed label reads “MINIATURE WARTANK, Made in glass. Filled with candy pellets.”

It was manufactured by Victory Glass (toy division) in Jeannette, Pennsylvania.

“Most of them were made in Pennsylvania,” he said. “They’re unique – a dual-purpose toy and gift.”

Candy container toys began in the late 1800s. The first two documented items were shaped like Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the Liberty Bell. Other designs quickly followed. After gobbling up the candy, kids could play with glass pistols, planes or puppies.

Production stopped during the Depression but resumed in 1940. In the 1950s, plastic replaced glass and the toys’ popularity waned.

Birch’s collection includes several lanterns with green- and red-painted tops or metal screw-on lids. Both dogs and cats are represented. One pup wears a red and white top hat, and a sleeping kitten is large enough to be cradled in both hands. A steamship sporting smokestacks seems poised to sail.

He even has a tiny bell and a small pistol, both filled with their original candy contents.

Train engines nestle beside a cowboy boot and a horse and cart on another shelf.

“I think the trains are my favorites,” Birch said. “The best part is after the candy is eaten, you still have a toy.”

Other designs seem intended for adults: a grand piano, a n early 20th-century -style camera and a candlestick telephone .

As for the little car and the fire engine that launched his collection – they are still in mint condition, minus the candy, of course.

“I don’t recall playing with them,” Birch said. “But obviously, I must have been pretty kind to them.”