The Treat You Love to Eat

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Now that baseball season is going into the final stretch, people will be eating lots of Cracker Jack treats at the games. For over 150 years the familiar Cracker Jack popcorn-and-peanuts treat has been satisfying snack attacks from picnic grounds to baseball stadiums. The crunchy confection that originated in Chicago in the 1870s has worldwide appeal.

Instantly recognizable in the red, white and blue box with Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo on the front, the snack was innovative from the beginning – from its molasses-coated, caramel popcorn and peanuts mixture to the wax paper package liner that keeps it fresh.

Frederick Rueckheim, a German immigrant, started selling the snack that would become the crowd favorite when he came to Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In 1899, Henry Gottleib Ekstein helped it keep its crunch when he developed the Cracker Jack “waxed sealed package” for freshness.

Putting the power of marketing to use, Cracker Jack’s slogan “The More You Eat, The More You Want.” was registered in 1896. And later the tagline: “Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize.”

Cracker Jack hit a home run in 1908 when it showed up in the popular song “Take me out to the Ballgame” (“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never come back.”). Already an American classic, the song made it a fan favorite at events everywhere.

And how about the prizes?  In 1912 Cracker Jack began putting prizes in every box. Reflecting Americana over the next 100 years, prizes ranged from baseball cards, miniature books and stickers to figurines, rings, space age toys and 1960s “Flower Power” pins.

Highly collectible now, The Schiffer Collectors book even tracks the prizes and prices.

Cracker Jack and its coveted prizes showed up in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard share a box and find a prize inside. A ring they eventually get engraved at Tiffany’s jewelry store where the surprised sales associate asks if they got it there.

Prizes inside the boxes were discontinued in 2016.  By then, 23 billion prizes had been given out around the world. But, in keeping with new technology, the boxes now have QR codes that you can scan for gifts.

Just as it did from the start, the popcorn treat we all love to eat (“Crack a pack of Cracker Jack, you’re bound to crack a smile.”) continues to find ways to innovate and surprise us.

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.