Plastic Halloween Bucket Recalled by Direct Source
Home product recall 97-009. Announced by CPSC on Oct 24, 1996.
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The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Oct 24, 1996. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
Lead
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
The notice gives no remedy in a field of its own.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Which ones are recalled?
Plastic Halloween Bucket Recalled by Direct Source NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:Nychelle White October 24, 1996 (301) 504-7063 Release # 97-009 CPSC, Direct Source International Announce Plastic Halloween Bucket Recall WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Direct Source International Inc. of Blue Ash, Ohio, is voluntarily recalling 11,700 packages of small plastic halloween candy buckets. Dillon Stores of Hutchinson, Kan., and CPSC found prohibited levels of lead in the black, red, and yellow paint, which peels readily from the buckets. The lead paint can cause lead poisoning in young children, who may ingest the paint from the banned buckets. The buckets come in three styles: as orange pumpkins, white skulls, and green Frankenstein heads, measuring 2.75 inches in diameter by 2.25 inches high. They are packed six to a cellophane package with an orange cardboard header labeled on the front, “HAPPY HALLOWEEN... 6 Halloween Buckets,” and on the back, bar code number “43748 88014... Direct Source International Inc...Made in China.” Some of the packages also include “Item NO. FF-014” on the back of the label. Various retail stores, including Dillon Stores and Kroger Company, sold the buckets from August 1996 to October 1996 for about $1 per package. CPSC received one report of a child who may have ingested some of the paint from the buckets. Consumers should take the buckets away from children immediately and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund of the purchase price. Consumers who have questions about this recall may call Direct Source International Inc. at (513) 793-9379.
Direct Source small plastic halloween candy buckets.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Who made and sold it?
- Made by Dillon’s.
- Made by Kroger.
- Made by Direct Source International.
- Made in China, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
The notice doesn’t say whether anyone was hurt.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.