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At the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, where a permanent exhibit of 10,000 pieces of Cracker Jack memorabilia is housed, special events have the locals cheering about Cracker Jack. The 100th anniversary has brought renewed interest in an old standard. That a 1 1/4 -ounce box of Cracker Jack cost 5 cents in 1915 today that box of Cracker Jack retails for 45 cents. That there are between 7 and 13 peanuts in every box of Cracker Jack? That before Sailor Jack – the sailor boy who appears on every box – the Cracker Jack symbol was the Cracker Jack Bears? That Cracker Jack began inserting toys in every box after a competitor tried the sales ploy?

That Cracker Jack got its name – three years after its invention – from a salesman who, after eating a mouthful, exclaimed, “That’s a cracker jack!” Even though most Americans have grown up with Cracker Jack, few know the history of the snack. Since the day they were invented, the Rueckheim brothers struggled to keep pace with demand. However, sales of Cracker Jack have never slumped. Consumers are already so anxious to get the tins that they’re calling Cracker Jack headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, for more information. The tins, which hold 8 ounces of Cracker Jacks, are expected to sell for between $3.79 and $4.99. The company also is rolling out commemorative tins that are just starting to appear in markets around the country. Other popular prizes from the past also will be inserted into boxes, including old-fashioned storybooks, cards bearing 1940s warplanes, turn-of-the-century postcards featuring the “Cracker Jack Bears” and a commemorative Sailor Jack, the mascot who was modeled after founder F.W.

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Among them is a series of miniature baseball cards issued in 1915, including such greats as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb. To celebrate the centennial of Cracker Jack, the company is enclosing replicas of Cracker Jack’s most popular prizes. “I think it’s mainly a combination of the fun of the prize and the taste of the product,” said Veronica Petta, a spokeswoman for Borden Inc., the corporation that bought Cracker Jack in 1964. Of course, the fact that every box contained a prize helped cement Cracker Jack as a kids’ favorite.

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