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Wilkins and Wontkins

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Wilkins and Wontkins are characters created by puppeteer Jim Henson for the Wilkins Coffee brand. The coffee was produced and sold in the United States by John H Wilkins & Company in Washington D.C.[1][2] "Wilkins", a character who enjoys Wilkins Coffee,[3] and "Wontkins", a character who does not—are used to advertise the coffee.[4][5]

Wilkins and Wontkins
Wilkins (left) and Wontkins (right)
First appearance1957
Last appearance1969
Created byJim Henson
In-universe information
SpeciesMuppet
GenderMale
NationalityAmerican

Background

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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.[6][7][8]

Wilkins Coffee's slogan was ‘'Try Wilkins Coffee - It’s Just Wonderful!’;[9][10] a later slogan used in advertisements was 'Rich… Rich… Double Rich'.

Wilkins and Wontkins

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In 1957, Jim Henson was hired by Helen Ver Standig who worked on advertising Wilkins Coffee, to produce commercials using early Muppet characters. Henson produced these commercials from 1957 to 1961.[6][11][12][13] Each ad ran for about 10 seconds long.[14] They were composed of an 8-second puppet skit, and a 2-second shot of the advertised Wilkins product.[15] The ads were very successful. In 1958, 25,000 puppets of Wilkins and Wontkins were sold for 1 dollar each.[16] There were also ads for Wilkins Tea and Wilkins Instant Coffee. Jim Henson also used Wilkins and Wontkins in ads for several other brands, such as Community Coffee, Nash’s Coffee, Red Diamond Coffee, La Touraine Coffee, Jomar Instant Coffee, Kraml Dairy, Calso Water, Taystee Bread, Dugan's Bread, Merita Bread, Frank's Beverages, Faygo, and Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO).[17] The last ads to feature Wilkins and Wontkins were ads for Community Coffee in 1969.[11]

The typical format of the ads would see the gleeful Wilkins persuading the sour Wontkins to drink Wilkins Coffee; Wontkins would almost always grumpily refuse, leading Wilkins (or an assisting outside force, such as an animal, a vehicle, an object, a hand, or company president Mr. Wilkins) to assault, harass, injure, or even kill him in return.

Later history

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John H. Wilkins, Jr. died in 1967 of a heart ailment.[1][10]

Wilkins Coffee had a number 1 retail spot in the 1950s but as competition got tougher with companies such as General Mills and Folgers Wilkins began losing its market share.[8] In the early 1990s Wilkins Coffee started to sell Wilkins and Wontkins shirts to try to regain popularity.[18]

Wilkins Coffee has been defunct since 1992.[6]

In 2006 Helen Ver Standig died of respiratory failure at the age of 86.[19]

In recent years the Wilkins Coffee ads have gone viral online.[20][21][22][23][24]

Book cites

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  • 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.

See also

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Wilkins Estate

References

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  1. ^ a b "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.)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Wilkins Puppet". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  4. ^ Davis, Michael (2008). Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-01996-0. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  5. ^ Gwin, Melinda (2020-11-05). "Wilkins Coffee Commercials and the Muppets You Never Knew". OddFeed. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  6. ^ a b c "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.
  7. ^ "Just Wonderful: 1925". Shorpy.com. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  8. ^ a b "COFFEE OR...KEEPING THINGS PERKING AT WILKINS COFFEE - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. 2021-02-20. Archived from the original on 2021-02-20. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  9. ^ Sorene, Paul (2018-08-19). "Jim Henson's Sadistic And Hilarious Adverts For Wilkins Coffee (1957-1961)". Flashbak. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  10. ^ a b "Just Wonderful: 1925". Shorpy.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  11. ^ a b "Wilkins Coffee (Advertising)". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2023-09-11.[user-generated source]
  12. ^ Dumas, Zoe (2023-03-25). "The Early Violent Work of Jim Henson Is Far From Felt Friendly". MovieWeb. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  13. ^ Sorene, Paul (2018-08-19). "Jim Henson's Sadistic And Hilarious Adverts For Wilkins Coffee (1957-1961)". Flashbak. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  14. ^ "Jim Henson's Commercials for Wilkins Coffee: 15 Twisted Minutes of Muppet Coffee Ads (1957-1961)". Open Culture. 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  15. ^ "Jim Henson's First TV Commercial Muppets Were Kinda Violent". Nerdist. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  16. ^ "Wilkins Coffee hand muppets advertisement". The Evening Sun. 1958-11-25. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  17. ^ "Muppet Central Articles - Interviews: Jim Henson". muppetcentral.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  18. ^ "Wilkins Coffee ad, promoting a t-shirt with Wilkins and Wontkins". The Baltimore Sun. 1990-10-21. p. 716. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  19. ^ Holley, Joe (2006-09-25). "Helen Ver Standig". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  20. ^ "Jim Henson's Old Wilkins Coffee Ads Resurface, Boy Are They Dark". TMZ. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  21. ^ Tennes, Carly (2021-02-22). "Jim Henson's Wildly-Violent Early Coffee Commercial Goes Viral". Cracked.com. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  22. ^ "Resurfaced Violent Muppet Killings Give Bygone Brand Wilkins Coffee a Moment". Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  23. ^ "60 years later, Jim Henson's Muppet coffee ads are still a hit". 2022-09-14. Archived from the original on 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  24. ^ "Wilkins and Wontkins". Know Your Meme. 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
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