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Cracker Jack is a brand of snack consisting of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts.

The product's name is often misstated in a plural form, as in "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks..." -- the song Take Me Out To the Ball Game refers to Cracker Jack.

Contents 1 History 2 Popular culture 3 Trivia 4 External links 5 References

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 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]

• 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."
• 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. One character 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.

• A complete set of 176 Cracker Jack prize baseball cards was sold for $800,000.^[2]
• 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.

• CrackerJack.com
• Cracker Jack history
• Cracker Jack article

1. ^ http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcrackerjacks.htm
2. ^ http://www.tennessean.com/features/living/archives/05/03/67906069.shtml?Element_ID=67906069