In 1894, fans of the molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts known as “Cracker Jack” started finding small metal charms in their boxes of treats. The “prizes” included tin whistles, cars, puzzles, bells, clocks, and even animal figures. The company quit making the metal toys in 1942 and, replaced them paper and plastic “bits and bobs,” but we get ahead of ourselves.

Cracker Jack may have been the first confection to include a “prize in every box,” but it was not the only company’s “first.”

Some food historians consider Cracker Jack to have been the country’s first “junk food,” a product said to have gotten its name from salesman, John Berg, who upon first sampling the treat exclaimed, “That’s a crackerjack!”—a popular phrase at the time referring to something wonderful.  At a time when most snacks were sold in bags, tins, or jars, Cracker Jack developed cardboard packaging that made it one of the first wax-sealed cardboard containers in the industry. That made it possible for the candy to be widely distributed to, say, places like ballparks.

In fact, the treat inspired Jack Norworth, a 29-year-old entertainer, to include it by name in a song he wrote. His tune has been sung during the middle of the seventh inning at probably every pro or semi-pro ballgame since 1934 when it was publicly sung for the first time at a high-school game in Los Angeles. It was played later that year during the 1934 World Series. Interestingly, Norworth had never been to a baseball game before, but he wrote the now-iconic song while riding the old Ninth Avenue El train to midtown Manhattan. Seeing an ad for the ball field where the New York Giants played inspired him, and if you’re inspired to hear it sung by a few 1958 New York Yankee greats along with the original composer, watch at the video below:

By now you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with purebred dogs.

It isn’t because on the packaging is “Sailor Jack” who appears with a dog named, “Bingo” (said to be modeled after a stray belonging to company partner Henry Eckstein). And it isn’t because famous chef and former Pembroke Welsh Corgi owner (now a Boston Terrier owner) Alton Brown, offers a recipe for a darker, clumpier version called Slacker Jacks.  It’s because purebred dogs have been part of Cracker Jacks’ “toy history.”  In the 1950s, they offered the Pointer, Scottie, Boxer, Pug, Collie, Cocker Spaniel, Pit Bull, Poodle, a Terrier, and the Dachshund, if not others, as well.

 

 

 

 

The plastic and paper updates are, to our eye, pale versions of the original metal prizes like the ones below:

 

 

 

It is a testament to human nature that many of us find joy in collecting things, and Cracker Jack toys have been worthy collectables that can still be found at antique shows, toy shows, flea markets, and yes, on Ebay and Etsy. There is even a Cracker Jack Collectors Association dedicated to collecting Cracker Jack prizes and related items, and its members gather to buy, sell and trade the toys at annual conventions; some club members will sell their extra prizes by mail. If you’re a collector of the toys, yourself, you should already own what’s been called the best book on the subject, Cracker Jack Toys: The Complete, Unofficial Guide for Collectors. You should also read this article on the best resources for researching the prizes.