WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The Peanut Pals National convention met Monday in Carbon County to swap memorabilia of the famous salted dandy, Mr. Peanut.
Here’s a few facts — some well known, others more obscure — about the nearly 120-year-old mascot:
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- He’s a native of Luzerne County. Sort of. Mr. Peanut is the mascot of Planters Peanuts. The company, now part of Hormel Foods, was founded in Wilkes-Barre in 1906 by Amedeo Obici and Mario Peruzzi.
- His design was dreamt up in 1916 by Antonio Gentile, a schoolchild in Suffolk, Va., who sketched out the basic design for an anthropomorphic peanut to win brand contest. Gentile won $5, according to the Suffolk News-Herald. That’s a little more than $153 today.
- Mr. Peanut could often be seen standing in front of the…