Wilkins and Wontkins (partially lost series of Jim Henson commercials; 1957-1969)

Wilkins (right), and Wontkins (left).

Status: Partially Lost

In 1957, puppeteer Jim Henson was asked by a Washington D.C. coffee company, Wilkins Coffee, to make commercials for their company. The company only had 10 seconds of screen time, so the ads had to be lightning-speed fast. From 1957 to 1961, Jim Henson created 179 ads for Wilkins Coffee. The popularity of these ads sparked the titular characters, Wilkins and Wontkins, to appear in commercials for various companies (Community Coffee, Red Diamond Coffee, Faygo, etc.). Starting sometime in 1966, Jim Henson started making commercials in color, unlike the previous commercials which were black and white. The last known Wilkins and Wontkins commercials made were for Community Coffee, made around 1969.

Companies

Companies that Wilkins and Wontkins promoted.

#	Company	Runtime	Status
1	Wilkins Coffee	1957-1961	Partially Found
2	Community Coffee	1959-1969	Partially Found
3	Donovan Coffee Company	1961-1966	Partially Found
4	Nash's Coffee	1958-1961	Partially Found
5	La Touraine Coffee	1958-1962	Partially Found
6	Martinson Coffee	1959	Lost
7	Faygo	1958-1959	Partially Found
8	Calso Water	1961	Lost
9	Frank's Beverages	1961-1963	Lost
10	Kraml Dairy	1962	Partially Found
11	Merita Bread	1963	Partially Found
12	Taystee Bread	1967	Partially Found
13	Dugan's Bread	1962-1963	Partially Found
14	Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio)	1960	Partially Found
15	Wilson's Meats	1965-1967	Existence Unconfirmed

Availability

Out of the 179 Wilkins Coffee commercials, only 99 have been released on the internet. It is unknown how many of these commercials Jim Henson made, let alone how many ads The Jim Henson Company has stored in their archives.