Original Item. Only One Lot Available. This is a wonderfully varied 10-piece grouping of original American WWII-era home-front advertising, candy packaging, souvenirs, and small novelties, all using the military tank as their central theme. The group includes substantial tank-shaped candy and soap containers, a mailed wooden souvenir, two tank-form pencil sharpeners, and several small charms or premiums.

Tank imagery became extremely prominent in American advertising and public graphics during this period. The slogan “Keep ’Em Rolling!”, seen on one of the pieces in this lot, was also used on a series of official U.S. government work-incentive posters beginning in 1941. Commercial manufacturers quickly incorporated similar patriotic and military themes into everything from candy and toys to personal-care products.

The largest item in the group is an impressive Fanny Farmer Candies cardboard tank container. Finished in olive drab with black, red, and cream lithographed graphics, it is decorated to resemble a riveted armored vehicle, complete with illustrated tracks and road wheels, engine vents, turret, and a projecting gun barrel. The number 714 appears repeatedly on the turret and hull, while the front is prominently marked Fanny Farmer / CANDIES. One side is additionally printed NET WEIGHT / 6 OUNCES. Particularly appealing is the underside, which retains four small red wheels recessed into rectangular openings, allowing the container itself to function somewhat like a toy once the candy had been removed.

Also included is the exceptionally unusual red, white, and green Kerk Guild “blitzkrieg Santa” tank-form soap package. The carton prominently reads:

blitzkrieg
Santa
SOAP
by
KERK GUILD

The side is decorated with a stylized tank and the slogan “Keep ’em Rolling”, while the original molded Santa soap figure appears to remain seated in the circular opening at the top like a tank commander. Kerk Guild specialized in imaginative molded novelty soaps during the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The lot additionally contains two small Candyland Company “WAR TANK” candy-and-toy containers, one printed predominantly in red and the other in orange. Both are constructed from folded lithographed cardboard and shaped into miniature tanks. The graphics reproduce armor plates, rivets, tracks, turrets, and gun barrels, and the ends are marked MADE IN / U.S.A. The lower panels identify them as CANDY AND TOY products packed and distributed by CANDYLAND CO., BROOKLYN, N.Y.

Another particularly charming piece is a small wooden tank souvenir tied to its original blue “GREETINGS FROM…” mailing tag. The tank is made from shaped wood with hand-applied black details representing its tracks, wheels, and hull, while Knoxville Tenn. is handwritten across the top. The tag bears a circular Gibson Mfg. Co. U.S.A. marking and retains a used purple Thomas Jefferson postage stamp, together with its original handwritten address and postal cancellation.

Completing the group are two U.S. Army tank-form pencil sharpeners and three miniature tank charms or premiums. The sharpeners are molded in green and mottled amber/brown plastic and are painted U.S. ARMY / TANK with red, white, and blue star insignia. Each has a small projecting gun barrel and one still retains the steel sharpening blade mounted across the reverse. The three smaller novelties consist of a silver-colored metal tank charm with suspension ring, a yellow molded tank marked U.S.A., and a gray molded tank, both of the latter retaining integral loops for attachment.

Overall, the lot shows expected age and handling wear, including creasing, edge wear, small losses, staining, and scattered repairs. The cardboard pieces remain colorful and display well despite their fragility, while the smaller novelties show typical surface wear and oxidation. No original candy contents are present. Please consult the photographs for the exact condition and completeness of each piece.