Wilkins Coffee
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| Product type | Coffee |
|---|---|
| Owner | John H Wilkins & Company |
| Country | United States |
| Markets | North America |
Wilkins Coffee was a brand of coffee produced and sold in the United States by John H Wilkins & Company in Washington D.C.[1][2] The brand is particularly remembered for a series of commercials produced by puppeteer Jim Henson, in which early examples of his Muppets—in this case, "Wilkins", a character who enjoys Wilkins Coffee, and "Wontkins", a character who does not—are used to advertise the coffee.[3]
History
Wilkins Coffee was founded in 1899 by John H. Wilkins Sr. The company sold coffee, tea and spices. His son John Wilkins Jr later took over the business.[4]
Wilkins and Wontkins
In 1957, Jim Henson was hired by Helen Ver Standig who worked on advertising Wilkins Coffee, to produce commercials using early Muppet characters, Jim Henson produced these commercials from 1957 to 1961.[4][5] Each ad ran for about 10 seconds long. They were composed of an 8-second puppet skit, and a 2-second shot of the advertised Wilkins product.[6] The ads were very successful. In 1958, 25,000 puppets of Wilkins and Wontkins were sold. There were also ads for Wilkins Tea, Wilkins Instant Coffee, and Wilkins Community Coffee. Later on, another form of ad arose. It was the News Report ads. The formula went as such: the news anchor, Scoop Wilkins, would say something about some place, and the reporter, Skip Others, would provide witty commentary. Jim Henson also used Wilkins and Wontkins in ads for several other brands, such as Nash’s Coffee, Kraml Dairy, Taystee Bread and Faygo. The last ads to feature Wilkins and Wontkins were ads for Community Coffee in 1969.[5] John H. Wilkins, Jr. died in 1967.[1]
Wilkins Coffee has been defunct since 1992.[4]
Book cites
- Coffee and Tea Industries and the Flavor Field. 1918. p. 948. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- Davis, M. (2008). Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. Viking. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-670-01996-0. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- Jones, B.J. (2015). "Chapter Four - Muppets, Inc.". Jim Henson: The Biography. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-52612-0. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia for ... R.L. Polk & Company. 1920. p. 142. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "John H. Wilkins Dies at 65; Headed Coffee Company Here". The Washington Post. April 1, 1967. ( via "Chief Navy Coffee Roaster". SHORPY - The American Photo Archive.)
- ↑ Montague, J. (2017). The Subdivisions of Avalon Heights, Langdon, Montello, Woodridge, and Winthrop Heights. Book Venture Publishing LLC. p. 611. ISBN 978-1-946492-16-6. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
- ↑ Davis, Michael (2008). Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-01996-0. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Jim Henson once sold coffee with two manic Muppets named Wilkins and Wontkins - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. 2019-12-28. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Wilkins Coffee (Advertising)". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
- ↑ "Jim Henson's First TV Commercial Muppets Were Kinda Violent". Nerdist. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
External links
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