Cracker Jack and the prize inside - Life in America

[Music] cracker jack started way back in 1872 when frederick ruckheim began selling popcorn out of a street cart in chicago this business was so successful that he brought his brother lewis over from germany to help out when his brother arrived they established the fw ruckheimen brothers company to sell their popcorn together after many years of being successful the two began tinkering with the popcorn recipe to stand out even more they eventually perfected a mixture of popcorn peanuts and molasses and called it candied popcorn and peanuts they decided to sell their popcorn mixture at the chicago world's fair in 1893. it was a huge hit and the company was officially in business in 1896 the name crackerjack was officially registered the story goes that upon trying the mixture a company salesman exclaimed that's a cracker jack back then the term cracker jack referred to something that was great and the name just stuck at the same time their slogan the more you eat the more you want was also trademarked in the day when most snacks came in bulk or were sold in tins bags or jars cracker jack developed cardboard packaging that allowed it to stay fresh longer and be distributed far and wide invented by henry eckstein in 1899 the eckstein triple proof bag was one of the first wax sealed cardboard containers in the industry he became the perfect business partner for the brothers and in 1902 the company became ruckheim brothers and ex-teen [Music] in 1908 jack norworth pinned the famous lines of take me out to the ball game that shot cracker jack into the limelight since then no baseball game has been complete without at least one box of the crunchy sweet treat and the two are forever linked [Music] crackerjack grew in popularity quickly in 1910 crackerjack began slipping coupons into boxes that could be collected and redeemed for watches silverware sewing machines and other home goods in 1912 the company decided to do away with the coupons and focus on appealing to kids it began putting a small prize inside each box and as a result sales went crazy over many years the company developed thousands of prizes everything from animal figurines to tin whistles to handheld puzzles it even put tiny porcelain dolls in boxes [Music] because of its connection with baseball cracker jack offered a collectible set of baseball cards in 1914 and again in 1915 they featured classic players such as honest wagner ty cobb and shoeless joe jackson [Music] the face of cracker jack got another boost in 1918 when sailor jack and his dog bingo were added to the packaging before those two the company mascots were two fun-loving bears shown doing everything from fishing to playing baseball to climbing the statue of liberty [Music] sailor jack was modeled after robert ruckheim grandson of frederick sailor jack's dog bingo was based on a real dog named russell a stray adopted in 1917 by henry eckstein [Music] in 1955 crackerjack began advertising on television with the appearance of crackerjack on cbs's on your account which was televised to 130 stations nationally actor jack gilford was the face of cracker jack commercials from 1960 to 1972 [Music] [Music] in 1964 borden bought the company and with it came shortages of peanuts in the boxes in the early years there were roughly 25 to 30 peanuts in every package that began to dwindle to about 12-15 when borden took over [Music] later the company was again sold this time to frito-lay in 1997 and the peanut count is said to have decreased even further frito lay also announced in 2016 that the prizes would no longer be provided instead of figurines and temporary tattoos the company has offered riddles folding games and slips of paper with a website link to downloadable content they have since graduated to a qr code which can be used to download a baseball themed game [Music] today cracker jacks are still a fan favorite at baseball games enchanting the young and the young at heart as they have for decades so while the prizes and the portions of peanuts may have changed a bit the memories you have will always remain you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 272,672

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, cracker jack, peanuts, popcorn, cracker jacks, prize, sailor jack, bingo, baseball, take me out to the ballgame, candy, snack, chicago

Id: uu7x4NiB4FI

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Sat May 08 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/ecdolphins]

I have not eaten cracker jacks in years. As a kid, I remember it was a great treat.