Who Successfully Redeemed This Wrapper For 1 Free Tootsie Pop?

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Individual-Schemes@reddit

Better question: Have we ever found a wrapper than didn't have the star?

I'm asking because I genuinely don't remember if it was actually that rare or something we collectively decided was special.

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I’ve found many without the star. However now that I’m older the wrapper probably had like 4 or 5 designs on them that just repeat. So the odds of finding the same design is really high. I’m tempted to find out how many different images are actually on the roll of wax paper to figure out the odds.

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waywardviking208@reddit (OP)

I can confirm it was rare but the blue ones seemed to have more

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Pretzelpixie@reddit

I sent mine in an envelope in the mail, and they wrote back saying it’s not a thing. I wish I had kept it!!

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porb2020@reddit

Wait?!? You spent 22¢ on a stamp and envelop to get a 15¢ tootsie roll pop? That sounds like kid logic to me😝

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TheGunny_12112000@reddit

🥹 how we all heard this before the internet…….. the school yard rumor mills were unbeatable

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ConspiracyParadox@reddit

That's also where we learned who had cooties.

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SoCalChrisW@reddit

And about Marilyn Manson 👀

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ConspiracyParadox@reddit

👀

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bikemandan@reddit

I hear theres a shot for that

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waywardviking208@reddit (OP)

It’s because we’re Xennials TheGummy❤️ & it’s why I love this sub! Last night I was watching There’s Something About Mary when Ben Stiller zips up his pants to unfortunate results, my 23 year old roommate walks in and I asked him “How’d You Get a the Beans Above The Frank?” He was dumbfounded and when I told him the movie still confused so I said “Cameron Diaz” He was like “who’s that?”

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Baked_Potato_732@reddit

Stop rooming with children! Oh wait, you said 23. Fuck I’m old.

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Individual-Schemes@reddit

Remember having to go to the record stores to check the front door area for flyers of upcoming raves or concerts?

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GreenHairyMartian@reddit

Damn, that's a sick lineup. I'd go to that party.

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HowsMyBuddy@reddit

I wonder how many states, and what years. I wrote an Onion-style article about someone trying to redeem these in 2003. Shoeboxes full, because I think I heard about it around 1988.

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ThruTexasYouandMe@reddit

Oh I did for sure. From a small mom and pop shop though. Not like 7/11

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Runaway-James@reddit

I left this exact red wrapper in my pocket once. It went through the wash and turned my tighty whities pink. Mom wouldn't replace them, so I had pink underwear for the rest of third grade 😂

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jelloshot@reddit

My brother and I were successful a few times at the local gas station. I am sure it is because my parents got gas there weekly.

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jambr380@reddit

Holy shit, this was actually achievable? I proudly collected my Indian star wrappers. Never actually thought you could actually get a free pop

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BlueBomber13@reddit

I wasn’t aware at all. We just thought it was good luck or something.

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Houdinii1984@reddit

I think it was never officially true. Like stores can't take the wrapper and redeem like a coupon from the company. But it sounds like a lot of stores just did so anyway for a few reasons, like loss leaders or just keeping kids happy to make parents happy.

I lived in a town of about 1200 and the local pharmacy would do this for the kids, and later on when we were in high school, that's the place everyone stopped and got a quick snack before school. In a town like that, kids turn into adults, and adults turn into major customers.

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Important_Chef_4717@reddit

Haywood’s ice cream shop in San Bernardino, Ca.

He gave us TWO tootsie pops for our winning wrapper.

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BulimicMosquitos@reddit

From what I can understand: This became an urban legend, so various local convenient stores decided to honor this in the hopes that the kids would potentially spend more in their store in exchange for a 15 cent sucker.

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Usual-Bag-3605@reddit

Exactly this. The lady who owned the store who exchanged them for us was friends with my mom. She said it was worth it because not only were the kids super excited, they usually spent the money they would've spent on the sucker on something else, plus the parents typically bought things when bringing their kids in to redeem the prize.

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Azuras_Star8@reddit

This is the idea behind the rotisserie chicken -- they get you in the store. Even though theyre losing money on the chicken, they make it back when you buy stuff there.

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Connection-Terrible@reddit

It is called a loss leader!!

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Azuras_Star8@reddit

Thank you! I meant to add that in there but was too busy making it easy to understand and I forgot.

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Future-Raisin3781@reddit

It's called a "loss leader."

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jackfaire@reddit

This will never not be hilarious to me because if I'm in the mood for a Rotisserie chicken it's the only thing I'm getting. If I'm going grocery shopping I'm not getting a rotisserie chicken.

Maybe my brain's broken?

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geniedjinn@reddit

They know some people will only buy the loss leader but it's a numbers game.

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jackfaire@reddit

Faire. Benefits me so I'm good with it.

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Lil_Brown_Bat@reddit

No sides?

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jackfaire@reddit

Not if I'm eating a whole rotisserie chicken myself no.

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robb_in_the_hood@reddit

Respect.

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Mr-Blackheart@reddit

Go in for a chicken, roll out with a Dyson vacuum.

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Traditional_Isopod80@reddit

That was a smart idea.

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blove135@reddit

Yep, for us I think it was mostly the 18 year old kid working the register didn't know and didn't care if it was a real thing. He let us have another one. Not coming out of his paycheck lol.

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classless_classic@reddit

According to Snopes it was an urban legend

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moonbunnychan@reddit

They seemed to have taken it down now, but for awhile Tootsie had it in their website that it was just an urban legend.

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vanderpump_lurker@reddit

I sent like 30 wrappers to tootsie roll and they sent me a bouquet of tootsie pops. 10/10 did work. But this was back when customer service actually meant something

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safe-viewing@reddit

Nah I can tell you my local convenience store definitely gave you a free one with this

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brockisawesome@reddit

crap that was an option?

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al_m1101@reddit

The Tootsie Pop game we played was that if you find the Indian star on your wrapper, you get to slap the other player one time. 😆

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redditneedsnewMods@reddit

I did a few times.

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Grumpyoldman79@reddit

Reading these comments I see this rumor is known all over the nation. I have always wondered how this rumor, or others that were widely spread such as Richard Gere with the gerbil, or various Marilyn Manson rumors spread throughout the US without any internet.

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Ramses_13@reddit

It depended on which store you went to back in the day. Smaller stores yes and bigger stores no. Good memories as a kid.

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reeder75@reddit

We always used that as a free pass to punch someone in the arm

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punky100@reddit

I think ONCE a store actually accepted it. The rest just said "we don't do that"

No fun.

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lakatos_intolerant@reddit

To this day I have never had lemon or lime Tootsie Roll Pops. None of the convenience stores growing up sold them and I always wanted to try them based on the classic commercial.

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DomDiablo@reddit

I did but apparently it wasn't a real thing from the company?

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bikemandan@reddit

✔️

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mattjf22@reddit

I did at 7-11

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United_Concept1654@reddit

The 7/11 by my house did

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EducationalVast2780@reddit

I needed 10 star wrappers to get a free lollipop from the Country Club market. This was around 86 in a small Northern California town called Eureka.

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silversunshinestares@reddit

Wait, y'all were redeeming yours at the local store? I mailed mine in and got the lifetime supply. I still get a Tootsie Pop in the mail once a month, it's kind of cute.

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Idontliketalking2u@reddit

Definitely did a kragen auto parts many times

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ImABuffKrabby@reddit

Redeemed a few over childhood, always got orange

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toneloc89@reddit

Tried this as a kid probably back in 95 or so, was so excited I got one so I handed it to the clerk and he looked at it and said "oh herer ya go" and threw it in the trash. I was so defeated I never tried it again

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Lady-Dove-Kinkaid@reddit

we had a couple places growing up that did this... and let me tell you how much TRASH we collected when they printed codes inside the bottom of Soda cans *and* the codes in bottle tops? Man we felt like we were *rich*

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violetpumpkins@reddit

Bottle caps and the upc codes from cigarettes to buy marlboro branded merch. Just piles of trash.

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thatsaplasticplum@reddit

Currently drinking out of a Marlboro miles coffee cup 😂

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TLN7@reddit

Me! Many times.

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Weird_Artichoke9470@reddit

Tiny (population 1200) town where the mascot was the Indians: the auto parts store would give me a free tootsie pop. I don't know if they redeemed it for everybody or not, though.

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JunkHead1979@reddit

I don't think I've ever heard of this. I never liked Tootsie Pops, but you'd think I would've heard of it. Maybe it just wasn't a thing here.

Those things are disgusting by the way.

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Brcomic@reddit

Oh man this just reminded me of the time I bought an RC Cola when I was a teen. Got a winning cap for a free one. Then had an epic run of free caps. Didn’t pay for a soda for a week.

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StickyWhipplesnit@reddit

In my area the Indian with the star was lucky and meant you got a wish.

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jacobpants@reddit

I saved ten of them and told my mom about it. She doubted it would work but took me to the store anyway. The cashier called a manager who gave me a whistle pop for them, probably out of pity.

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El_Legarto@reddit

Got one at a general store after a canoe trip across a lake in summer camp. Redeemed! It was like finding treasure.

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cpzy2@reddit

This all seems very Michigan-ey

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Scherzkeks@reddit

Michigan’s in the rear view now

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El_Legarto@reddit

Actually it was in the Sierras in CA.

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Sodamyte@reddit

Never knew it was a thing.. but now I want some tootsie pops

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Bloodygoodwossname@reddit

I saved these in a shoebox for ages, but I don’t who told me to or what for, just that they’d be worth a lot of money someday? No wonder we were so susceptible to the Beanie Baby craze.

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heldaway@reddit

The 7-11 by us would honor it but not all of them.

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MsBlondeViking@reddit

It took ten. But I did this multiple times as a kid.

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laughingpuppy20@reddit

I did! A lot! :)

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bandit1206@reddit

Never heard that one. Did have a teacher who gave the out before tests. If you got that one, it was considered a sign you’d get an A. Didn’t always hold, but was a fun tradition.

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spitfiredaggers@reddit

I didnt think this was still a thing. Hmm pretty rad!

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GoodGood_Glass@reddit

Summer camp. Camp store would always honor it.

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prguitarman@reddit

Did it many times. Was some unspoken agreement thing going on. Every kid knew about it. Stores played along with it

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Deep-Library-8041@reddit

Dunno, but I once dutifully counted how many licks to get to the center and wrote in to the company, who sent me a certificate in response.

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deltadawn6@reddit

Meeeee

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sleeperninja@reddit

Ohh!
gif

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heavyLevy5@reddit

I sent it to the actual company and got a letter back from them explaining it was an urban myth

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cheesepile@reddit

The Sprouse Reitz in Pleasanton, CA redeemed this once in the mid-late 80s. Management had to OK it for the cashier, and I don't think either of them had any idea about this "promotion."

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OregonResident@reddit

Never tried this. But I did make a wish before unwrapping each one and told myself if I got the auspicious arrow and star that my wish would come true.

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Alternative_Weight95@reddit

Did it come true?

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birdieponderinglife@reddit

So if it wasn’t for a free tootsie pop then why was it on the wrapper? It looks so out of place with the rest of the designs on the wrapper.

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Wornthread@reddit

never managed to redeem one of those lol always thought it was a myth

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Daemon213@reddit

When I was a kid, the corner store down the street would do it for us. When I worked at Circle K, I'd do it for the kids who tried.

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Earth2Kim@reddit

Me! At my family summer camp, Lair of the Bear, in the 90s!

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littlemuffinsparkles@reddit

When I was a kid we used to do it all the time at the diamond shamrock gas station in the front of the neighborhood

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Amy_Macadamia@reddit

The mom & pop candy store near my house redeemed them 🏹 ⭐️

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TwoShort100@reddit

Hudson's Grill

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a_solid_6@reddit

Yes, at the convenience store near my school!

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akm1111@reddit

The 7-eleven around the corner from my cousins house in Arlington TX did it until about 1992.

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unga_bunga_kid1927@reddit

Im a gen xer ... we always made a wish on that.

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fruitjerky@reddit

I had a spot.

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Grinzy@reddit

The corner liquor store by my parent's house honored these until they got robbed and sold it to some new guys who put up a bunch of "bullet proof" plastic and barriers making the corner shop into the ghetto liquor store...

Went back recently to buy some smokes for my dad (typical) and it was new owners and the plastic is all down. They were super chill. Didn't try the tootsie pop star claim again tho.

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