I was pretty sure I got both---the shots when they first came out, and the sugar cubes much later. Could it be possible some took both?
Peeps In 1953, Just Born acquired the Rodda Candy Company and its marshmallow chick line, and replaced the painstaking process of hand-forming the chicks with mass production. And the rest is history...
I remember those radios. I believe they took dry cell batteries. As an aside, I think that transistor radios were the beginning of diminishing parents' influence over their own children (with cars and television being the other. The internet and cell phones sealed the deal.)
The first PEZ mint dispensers were introduced in the US in 1955. In 1956, PEZ released a space-gun-shaped dispenser that shot out fruit-flavored tablets, but it was too expensive to produce and discontinued.
Soft serve right out of the truck: Founded in Philly in 1956. Still in business in 18 states. They were in Indiana when I was a kid, right around when they were founded.