reply to Folly
Addenda:
Did Eddie get the “benefit” that he wanted?
Eddie probably was unaware he did not get the actual physical benefit he wanted, so you could argue Eddie got the true benefit of his action regardless of whether or not the assembly actually happened later.
Did Eddie want them to assemble something using the toothpicks, string, and an empty quaker oats container? Like a drum he could hang around his neck?
Did Eddie want them to assemble something using the toothpicks, string, and an empty quaker oats container? Like a drum he could hang around his neck? No
And again with the caveat about not knowing a child’s thought process, but it’s also possible that Eddie expected that he wouldn’t get what he “wanted”, and was doing it as a joke. But what he did, did make sense.
No. Eddie did not expect to have the items returned to him and no other items were required for assemblage.
Did Eddie want the item assembled, then sent somewhere to be used? A farm? factory?
Were the toothpicks to be used to poke holes in something? scratch marks?
Was Eddie’s stuff intended make something with a QO tube?
Were the toothpicks and string supposed to create some kind of fence or enclosure?
If yes to this:
-Was the geographical location of the fence important?
-Was it supposed to contain some specific kind of plant/animal/fictitious being?
-Did Eddie have (or at least believe he had) some claim to whatever was supposed to be inside?
Did Eddie want the item assembled, then sent somewhere to be used? Yes
A farm? factory? No
Were the toothpicks to be used to poke holes in something? Yes
scratch marks? No
Was Eddie’s stuff intended make something with a QO tube? No
Were the toothpicks and string supposed to create some kind of fence or enclosure? Yes
If yes to this:
-Was the geographical location of the fence important? Yes
-Was it supposed to contain some specific kind of plant/animal/fictitious being? No
-Did Eddie have (or at least believe he had) some claim to whatever was supposed to be inside? Yes
Was the specific location on land owned by QO?
Here’s a guess: Eddie had buried some treasure there earlier, and wanted it protected from tilling!
reply to Ignotus
Was the specific location on land owned by QO? Yes
Here’s a guess: Eddie had buried some treasure there earlier, and wanted it protected from tilling! No.
Did Eddie know the exact location for the fence to be erected?
Had Eddie been there before?
Did QO buy the land from someone Eddie knew about or was acquainted with?
Did Eddie know the exact location for the fence to be erected? No
Had Eddie been there before? No
Did QO buy the land from someone Eddie knew about or was acquainted with? No
Eddie almost certainly did not know the exact location but theoretically he could have… 
Hmm… I’m thinking of those “rainforest protection sales” which were a thing here in Sweden back in the -80:s (I “bought” half an acre of rain forest in Costa Rica myself from some school kids for some $50 – hope they got a fun school trip!:)) Though the -50:s seems a bit early for ecological awareness…!
Did Eddie buy the rights to that diminutive spot from QO (even by sending them like 20 box tops or something like that)?
Hmm… I’m thinking of those “rainforest protection sales” which were a thing here in Sweden back in the -80:s (I “bought” half an acre of rain forest in Costa Rica myself from some school kids for some $50 – hope they got a fun school trip!) Though the -50:s seems a bit early for ecological awareness…! No
Did Eddie buy the rights to that diminutive spot from QO (even by sending them like 20 box tops or something like that)? Yes
I think we might be close enough now to call it, but I’ll leave that to Biotop, since he was the one who posed the puzzle.
OK, so a marketing trick, which Eddie bought into? And then tried to enforce, by sending in his own personal fence for the plot?
That’s pretty adorable if that’s it.
You got it. But it wasn’t really a trick, except well sort of.
Quaker Oats bought 19.5 acres of land in the Yukon, and offered kids who sent in a boxtop to their cereal a free deed for a square inch of country in the wilds of the North. The offer was promoted heavily in newspapers and during the popular Sgt Preston of the Yukon radio show. After getting into some legal trouble, Quaker Oats began just including the free inch of land deed in specially marked boxes of their cereal. Once the few million or so square inches were gone, the promotion was over. The deeds looked like the real thing, with legalese language, an official looking seal, and individually numbered lots. The promotion was a huge success.
QO set up the Klondike Big Inch Land Company to oversee it all. The thing is, Quaker Oats never registered the deeds. The Canadian government eventually repossessed the land over failure to pay taxes. But many of the deed owners took it seriously, including little Eddie, who wanted to fence off his land.
The real fun is that now, some seventy-five years later, people are still inquiring about the value of their land. Older people die and behold: look what the relatives find in their loved one’s safety deposit box. A deed to land in Canada!
Canadian authorities are sick of getting calls about this land. They direct all inquiries to Quaker Oats. Quaker Oats customer service people are also not happy, as they still have customers occasionally calling to find the value of their square inch of land and then having to deal with angry folks who are told their deed is worthless.
I like this article a lot,and there are more fun reads out there about how this silly promotion captured the imagination (and commn sense) of a lot of folks. And a bonus fun fact is that deeds in good condition can sell for $40 and up on E-Bay as a collector’s item. So this “worthless” deed is now worth more than a share of QO stock.
Great questions by Ignotus at 2726 or this could have taken awhile.