Bazooka Pops

Oh, the oddities that hide in plain sight in the Topps universe!  I was marveling at a box of 1967 Topps Baseball acquired by a collecting buddy of mine (hi George!) and noticed this little piece of esoterica along the bottom and side:

As we shall see momentarily, these pops were dubbed Twin-ee pops. They went for a nickel and I guess were designed as a counter display item, right next to the baseball cards and Bazooka logs.

These must not have lasted long but tie back to a neat bit of company history.  Back in the late 1940's, when Topps was trying to find an iconic mascot for Bazooka, Joseph Shorin became impressed with an add campaign for Popsicles, which featured a character named Popsicle Pete. He eventually hired the man responsible for refining the character for the Joe Lowe Corporation, one Woody Gelman.  Fittingly, the mascot created by Gelman is promoting the product that landed him the gig at Topps.