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'Cracker Jack' is a brand of snack consisting of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts. It is also well known for being packaged with a "Toy Surprise Inside" of nominal value. This attained pop-culture status with the term "came in a Cracker Jack box" referring to an object of no real value.
The product's name is often misstated in a plural form, as in "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack's'..." from the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

Contents

History

Popular culture

Trivia

External links

References

History

1893: Frederick William Rueckheim and his brother, Louis, mass produce Cracker Jack and sell it at the first Chicago World's Fair in 1893. At the time, it was a mixture of popcorn, molasses, and peanuts and was called "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts".
1896: Rueckheim devises a way to keep the popcorn kernels separate. Hitherto, the mixture was difficult to handle as it stuck together in chunks.
1912: Prizes included in Cracker Jack boxes for the first time. In recent years, the toy and trinket prizes have been replaced with paper prizes displaying riddles and jokes.
1918: Mascots Sailor Jack and his dog, Bingo, are introduced (though they were not registered as trademark logos until 1919 ).
1964: The Cracker Jack Company is purchased by Borden.
1997: Borden sells the brand to Frito-Lay^[1].

Popular culture

★ Cracker Jack is a staple at baseball games, famously mentioned in the 1908 baseball song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game": "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't care if I never get back." In a report for the National Public Radio program, ''On the Media'', correspondent Mike Pesca contends that this is an example of product placement equivalent to $25 million in advertising.^[2]

★ Mentioned in the 1977 song, "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," performed by rock singer Meat Loaf: "...but there ain't no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box..."

★ In the 1987 movie ''Spaceballs'' the character Yogurt said that he found Lone Starr's Schwartz ring as a prize inside a Cracker Jack box.

★ Mentioned in the 1997 song "Muhammed my Friend" by Tori Amos.

★ Cracker Jack played an important role in the 1924 Harold Lloyd movie ''Girl Shy''.

★ In the 1934 film ''Bright Eyes'', Shirley Temple sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop". She mentions "Cracker Jack bands" while holding a gigantic Cracker Jack box.

★ In the novel ''The Grapes of Wrath'' by John Steinbeck, an argument between two children regarding their Cracker Jack develops into an important plot element.

★ The snack, and a metal ring prize, is key to the plot of the 1961 film ''Breakfast at Tiffany's''. When Paul Varjak meets Holly Golightly's husband, Paul is given the ring from Mr. Golightly's box of Cracker Jacks. Later on, he and Holly go to Tiffany's to buy a gift, but because of a tight budget, they get the ring engraved. The salesman is pleased to learn that prizes are still included in the packaging, commenting that it "gives one a feeling of solidarity, almost of continuity with the past, that sort of thing."

★ In the movie ''The Little Rascals'', Alfalfa gives Darla a ring, saying "I had to eat six boxes of Cracker Jacks to find it!"

★ In the TV-series ''The Pretender'' (1996-2000), Angelo is frequently seen eating Cracker Jack.

★ During World War II the K-ration was produced by the Cracker Jack company with the waxed paper ration box about the same size as the Cracker Jack box.

★ In the TV-series Seinfeld, in the 5th season episode "The Fire", Kramer puts Toby's toe in a Cracker Jack box filled with ice.

Trivia

★ A complete set of 176 Cracker Jack prize baseball cards was sold for $800,000.^[3]

★ July 5th is Cracker Jack Day.

★ In 2004, the New York Yankees baseball team replaced Cracker Jack with the similar Crunch 'n Munch at home games. The club switched back to Cracker Jack after immediate public outcry.

External links

★ CrackerJack.com

★ Cracker Jack history

★ Cracker Jack article

★ Crackerjack Games

References

1. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcrackerjacks.htm
2. On the Media, ''Cracker Jack'', August 4, 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
3. http://www.tennessean.com/features/living/archives/05/03/67906069.shtml?Element_ID=67906069