A while back, one of the ladies that I work with brought in Tootsie Pops to fill the office candy jar. It immediately brought back memories of my childhood, and how I was on team Tootsie Pop and not team Blow Pop (I'm still probably in the minority now, huh?). Regardless, it also reminded me of the good old days when I would anxiously wait to unwrap my Tootsie Pop and search the wrapper for the picture of an indian shooting a star with a bow and arrow. The reason? So that I could cash that in at the local candy shop (aka grocery store, 7/11, or gas station) for a free Tootsie Pop! Everyone knew about this exchange, right?
Wrong! The ladies at work looked at me like I was crazy. As I disguised my sweet tooth's desire for a Tootsie Pop for merely a search for such a wrapper, I indulged in a few samples from the jar over the next couple of days. Finally, I uncovered one with the indian shooting a star. After instructing the ladies that I work with of the exchange policy, and how I did it all the time as a child, they were somewhat intrigued (or just appeasing one of my daily rants).
Now, I must retract my statement about how I did this all the time in my youth. I used myself as an example since I knew so many other kids who knew someone (and so on), that it was safe to say I did it too.
Upon talking up the prize of the candy world, I decided to look up the legend for the ladies. Surely the internet would verify my claim!
Nope.
Apparently this is an "Urban Legend" and the company has never authorized the exchange of the somewhat rare (1 in 3 wrappers sport the picture) wrapper for another Tootsie Pop. Where the rumor started is a mystery in itself, however, the rumor was so widely spread that some stores would in fact make the exchange for kids.
Perhaps I was naive in my youth to believe such stories from friends (of friends of friends), but it was more fun to believe than not to. Just another example of a fun story from my childhood being shot down. Being a gullible adult is no fun.
