PTT Kooser Chuck E. Cheese Name Sign (1978)
The Kooser Chuck E. Cheese Nameplate was only used at the second Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre located on 1371 Kooser Road, located in the Blossom Hill Shopping Center in San Jose California; where it was placed under the Kooser Chuck E. Cheese animatronic from November 1978 to May, 1980.
Production
While no specific data is documented on the production of the earlier nameplates, we can assume Fantasy Forest Manufacturing produced the Kooser set of nameplates alongside the Kooser animatronics from October through November 1978, and were most likely shipped alongside the animatronics themselves.
There is a high chance the Kooser Chuck E. Cheese nameplate was the first developed in the batch due to the significance of the character. If production was not carried out by Fantasy Forest, the production may have been lent out to either a contracting company, or produced by Pizza Time Theatre Incorporated themselves.
Usage
The only usage of the nameplate was at the 1371 Kooser Road store, where it was placed under the Kooser Chuck E. Cheese animatronic from as early as November 1978, where it lasted until May 1980. After the Kooser Portrait Show was retired, several scenarios involving the nameplate could have played out after May 1980, those being:
A. The nameplate was placed in one of several storage rooms at the 1371 Kooser Road location and thrown out.
B. The nameplate was placed in one of several storage rooms at the 1371 Kooser Road location and destroyed.
C. The nameplate was sent to the 1213 Innsbruck Drive corporate office in Sunnyvale, California, alongside the Kooser Portrait Animatronics.
Design
Pizza Time Theatre Incorporated most likely wanted the nameplate uniform to the nameplates they had at their 370 South Winchester Boulevard location, although more rectangular, plus less rounded, then changing out the white colored areas to a more yellow color. Chuck E. Cheese's nameplate used a rounded, brown wooden base, and placed the text "CHUCK E. CHEESE" in yellow text, enclosed in a thin border of the same color, with supporting bolts on each side of the text.
It is unknown if the Kooser Chuck E. Cheese nameplate received the text "© PIZZA TIME THEATRE INC. 1978" below the Chuck E. Cheese name as Winchester received in late 1979.
Gallery
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Ditto, although in the March 1979 issue of Western Food Service.
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Seen in the Food Service Marketing October 1979 issue.
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Seen in the "Real People" 1979 Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre News Broadcast.
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Ditto.
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Seen in the 1978 Kooser Opening Promotional Brochure, published on 12/4/78.
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Although barely visible, the nameplate can be seen under Chuck E. Cheese.
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Ditto, although seen in the February 1979 issue of RePlay Magazine.
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