The Salty, Sweet and Irresistible History of Baseballs Most Famous SnackCandy-coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize? That, and so much more, is what you get with a Cracker JackTeddy BrokawApril/May 2025 A reproduction of a World War II-era package, featuring Sailor Jack and loyal Bingo. AlamyThe questionof Cracker Jacks origin is a sticky one. Some attribute its invention to Frederick Rueckheim, others to Charles Gunther, both German immigrants who migrated to the Midwest and built candy empires from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire. Whoever first hawked the product on the streets of the Windy City, only Rueckheim was able to turn it into an American institution. He began selling molasses-coated popcorn and peanuts to members of the fire relief effort in the early 1870s. Over the next few decades, he capitalized on several innovations to set the treat apart, innovating a unique means of rotating the barrels in which the snack was made, to keep it from clumping together, and using wax-sealed packaging to keep the product fresh. The purchasing public gave their enthusiastic endorsement. One oft-repeated story claims the name originated when an enthusiastic buyer exclaimed, using period slang for something great, Thats a crackerjack! By the early 20th century, demand was so high that the company reportedly required a quarter of the worlds total popcorn supply in order to keep up.Having gotten the snack down to a science, Rueckheim turned his attention to marketing. He trademarked the slogan The More You Eat, the More You Want and introduced mascots Sailor Jack and his dog, Bingo. But nothing compared to the windfall of free publicity provided by the 1908 smash hit Take Me Out to the Ball Game. The song forged a permanent connection between Cracker Jack and baseball, and when prizes began to appear in every box a few years later, they sent Cracker Jacks popularity into the stratosphere.The prizes tell the story of the American century: 1940s prizes were made of paper to conserve metal for the war effort; postwar prizes looked to the skies and the future with jet age and space race themes; and prizes from the 1960s and 70s embraced the counterculture, offering Flower Power pins. But as the century wound down, Cracker Jacks relevance waned, and the company began to phase out physical prizes. By the time it eliminated them altogether in 2016, Cracker Jack had delivered more than 23 billion trinkets around the world.Of course, Cracker Jack remains a ballpark staple, and, in a way, prizes have returned to their roots. While physical goodies are gone, each box still offers a treat in the form of a QR codeone of which whisks users away to a virtual ballfield for an arcade-style home run game. The tech may have changed, but a century later, Cracker Jack is still putting baseball excitement into the hands of young fans.Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99This article is a selection from the April/May 2025 issue of Smithsonian magazineGet the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.Filed Under: Americana, Baseball, Food, Food History