When Muppets violently sold coffee (Henson's early work)

[underpants]

Link to tweet

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[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. You could get your own set of Wilkins and Wontkins puppets -

I was too young then to remember now how my mother did it, must have involved sending in a Wilkins coffee lid or label along with some $, but one day when I was about 5, she surprised my sister and me with our own set of Wilkins and Wontkins. I do still remember my disappointment - those puppets were made out of vinyl, not cloth, like the ones we saw in the commercials! I don't remember what happened to them.

But years later, it turned out that the man I ended up marrying had possession of his own family's set of W&W puppets which his mother had ordered for him and his siblings when they were kids. We still have them.

[underpants]

2. Was this a regional product?

Things tended to be back then.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

4. Not sure, but I think Wilkins coffee may have local to the DC area, where we were/are.

[underpants]

8. I looked it up. Yep DC area

It appears they became part of (bought by) Maxwell House. The Wilkins had an summer house in Rockville.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkins_Estate

[Grokenstein]

3. Some Internet comedian should update this

so the guy who doesn't like Wilkins gets the drop on his proto-Kermit wannabe-murderer and has the last laugh.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I'm so ancient I remember them in Nash's Coffee ads.

[Karadeniz]

6. I've never seen these, but I love them! So much better than today's glitzy commercials where you

Remember the glitz, but can't remember what it was for.

[underpants]

9. Basically Tom n Jerry ultraviolent cartoons

I mean the cartoons I watched growing up were really really violent.

[Major Nikon]

7. I thought the poker one was the best