Wacky Packs Are Back!

Wacky Packages, first introduced by Topps Chewing Gum nearly 40 years ago, are back in the form of a coffee-table-worthy book to be prized by casual curators everywhere.

Wacky Packages were a series of stickers and gum cards made in the late 60s and early 70s. I looked forward to my weekly trip to the local “five and dime” to collect the latest. And it probably did cost a nickel.

Ted Anthony of Associated Press put it this way, “Wacky Packages turned the supermarket into a buffet of obnoxious jokes, bad puns and skeevy illustrations.”

My bedroom headboard and high school notebooks were plastered with these wacky pack stickers when they first appeared. Schoolmates and I loved these irreverent blasts as pure comedy - completely unaware of their social context… or fateful prediction of career. (My bed was even covered with a Wacky Packages quilt - still in my possession!)

Imagine a time when commercial creativity was largely free from analysis… a time when reckless expression and social satire was encouraged and rewarded. (Thank you, Andy.)

Check out a complete collectors reference here:
Gregory Grant’s Wacky Packages Web Page

What’s your favorite?

There are 2 comments so far | Post a comment

Richard B. | Jan 12, 2010

The Topps company, creators of the original Wacky Packs, has teamed up with Philadelphia company, LTL Prints, to offer larger-than-lifesize wall graphics!

These things are fantastic! What a great idea. The Wacky Packs are printed up to seven feet tall on a special, self-adhesive fabric that “sticks” to just about anything and is repositionable 100 times with no damage to surfaces. Check it out!

http://www.ltlprints.com/wackypacks

LTL also has an interesting collection of wall graphics featuring icons created by Susan Kare, icon designer for the original Macintosh.

R.BIRD | Jan 14, 2010

Received a sample Wacky Pack wall graphic today from LTL Prints and it’s fantastic!

Put one up on the wall in our conference room for laughs. Take a look

We’ve repositioned it several times and works like a charm.

You can get one of your own for a wall or notebook/laptop cover here

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