Curtis Allina, the inventor of the Pez dispenser...

...died at age 87. According to the obit in the New York Times:

Hundreds of different dispensers are extant. (“Hundreds” is a conservative estimate, for collectors count minute alterations in a dispenser’s shape or color as meaningful in ways others do not.) They include Popeye Pez, Pokémon Pez and Paul Revere Pez; SpongeBob Pez and Elvis Pez (in several historical variants, from ’50s boyish through ’70s dissipated); Mozart Pez, Hello Kitty Pez and Mickey Mouse Pez.

The first two character dispensers, Santa Claus and a robot known as the Space Trooper, were introduced in 1955.