Cracker Jack Box

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

I found an unopened Cracker Jack box from 1890 something. It was manufactured in Canada for Detroit, I believe. It has a blue circle on it that says "Nut". The box looks exactly like the box shown in Old Cardboard issue 9. The box also says it contains a card or prize. I know it doesn't have a baseball player in it, so my question is what might it contain? Would this be considered a good find? When you shake it, you find that it's one big rock hard piece of Cracker Jacks. I can imagine what the card condition might be.

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Posted By: Joseph

Prizes didn't appear in Cracker Jack boxes until 1912. Send a scan of the box if you can, it might not be from 1890-something....

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

I found it at an antique shop about 40 miles from where I live. I think I'll just go buy it at $95, and then send in a scan.

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

Correction: It's not a big rock of Cracker Jacks. The candy is loose and rattles when shakened. How did I do? Does it have a Honus Wagner in it?

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Posted By: Anthony

I may be wrong here, but I thought the sailor boy was after cards were issued. Trevor had a box from '14-'15 and it was a lot plainer graphics. Either way a nice package.

edited to say
The Sailor first appeared in 1918
<<1918 Sailor Jack and his dog, Bingo, first appear on packages.>>

http://www.crackerjack.com/history.php

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

According to Crackerjack.com:

1912 - "A Prize in Every Box" is introduced when toys are inserted into every package.

1918 - Sailor Jack and his dog, Bingo, first appear on packages.

http://www.crackerjack.com/history.php

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Posted By: David

That is a nice CJ box. Sailor Jack was not introduced until 1918. In addition, the company did not start using "The Cracker Jack Co." until 1922. Thus, your box is not any earlier then 1922.

Edited to add: Based on the manufacturer being "The Cracker Jack Co." the box would have been produced between 1922 and 1963. Borden bought the company in 1964 and started using "Borden" on the boxes in 1964.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Sailor Jack first appeared on Cracker Jack boxes in 1918.

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Posted By: Scott Mosley

According to this (and other websites) the sailor boy logo was first seen in 1918/1919...

Still a nice "go with" piece, however.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcrackerjacks.htm

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Posted By: Bob

Richard- Before you open the box you might want to check this website: http://members.cox.net/jeepers/CrackerJackBox.html>

and also email Ann Brogley (who is the Burdick of CJs) and send her a scan and see if she has a clue based on the box if it might contain a card. Her email address is: annbrogley@verizon.net

By the time I got through checking the web and typing this, several others had posted so it seems apparent that it is not a baseball card.

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Posted By: Paul S

Very nice piece regardless. The wrapper looks shiny, like waxpaper. Which brings up a question I've long had but never asked: Anyone know when waxpaper was introduced?

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Posted By: Joseph

from Wikipedia:

"Thomas Edison claimed to have invented wax paper in 1872, but what he really invented was a cheap and efficient means to manufacture such paper."


Cracker Jack was using it early in the 20th century, I think...

Can't wait to see the prize!!!

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

Instead of being questioned by Homeland Security for hours, I took the box to the courthouse where they had an X-Ray machine. What showed up was a few popcorn sized objects. Everything else was a blur. I also forgot to mention that this is an unopened box.

I may put it up for sale in the BST area. If interested, email me at richarddwyer@sbcglobal.net

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Posted By: Ron Toth, Jr.

Richard,
Hi! A friend directed me to this link to show me your Cracker Jack box. What you have here is a box from the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Walter M. Lowney Company of Montreal and Boston also used the label, but with their name and address when they were Licensed to make Cracker Jack for the market outside the United States. It could contain one of the many hundreds of prizes from the era, including a wrapped plastic prize which started in 1948. The card that the box refers to could be one of three types.

One is from a series of cards called "Sports-Yesterdayd and Today" This is a 48 card set of cards that portrays two cards for each of 24 sports. One card is from "Yesterday" meaning from the sport's beginning and the other "Today" meaning from the 1940s or 1950s. These cards come with rounded and square corners. There is also a premium album that was made for them that you would mail for.

The second card it could be is from a set called "Victoria Cross" cards. This is a set of 72 cards that have images of World War II scenes, some are very graphic.

The third possibility is one of many airplane cards. The U.S. had a set of 24 cards of airplanes from different countries. There was a mail away offer for the complete set as well. The Canadians had three sets of smaller airplane cards. There was a set of 50 cards, a set of 98 cards, and a set of 147 cards.

There was one more card set that was used around that time. These were not produced specifically for Cracker Jack. They were actually strip cards that were cut apart and inserted in the boxes as prizes. It was a set called "Allies in Action". it was another war scene set and these are the only ones that are not marked "Cracker Jack".

I saw some responses about Sailor Jack and Bingo as well. They first appeared on advertising and prizes around 1916 and then on the boxes as early as 1918.

Here is an example on my website of an unused label:
http://www.timepassagesnostalgia.com/?pm=0&page=1&searchkeywords=%23cjc0001

Hope this information helps.

"When you are really good, they call you Cracker Jack"

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Posted By: Andrew

"Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." -- Erica Jong

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Posted By: anthony

richard, how did you come up with 1890-something??? it that the trademark or patent date??? it is a cool looking box nonetheless

andrew, who is erica jong??

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Posted By: Andrew

She's an American poet/author. I'm a bigger fan of her responsibility centered quote than of her work (of which I know very little.)

"Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." -- Erica Jong

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

Anthony: On one side of the box it says Manufactured byin Great Britain Feb 23rd. 1897 in Canada March 13, 1901.

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Posted By: Paul S

Unless I have my Ericas mixed up, her initial big claim to fame was a huge landmark blockbuster of a book "Fear of Flying." That's pretty apt considering the card shown!...although it wasn't aiplanes she was referring to.

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Posted By: Paul S

Joseph, thank you for the waxpaper info. I suppose I just should have thought of going to Wikipedia myself, although posting here is much more fun. How about that Edison guy, trying to take credit!

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Posted By: Ron Toth, Jr.

The Great Britain 1897 and Canada 1901 dates are only the dates when the Cracker Jack trade Marks were first registered in those countries. Later there were copyright dates on the boxes that went on for many years. People tend to think that the © years found on packaging is the year it was made. It may be so for many newer products that change all the time.

In the 1800s the Cracker Jack Company used to be called Rueckheim Brothers. Later it was Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein. Their products later became known as Reliable Confections. By the 1920s they had over 750 different confections. In 1922 the name was changed to The Cracker Jack Company. Borden bought Cracker Jack in 1964 and in 1997 Frito-Lay (owned by Pepsi) bought the product.

I have done much work as a freelance Artist, Advisor, and Historian on Cracker Jack for both Borden and Frito-Lay.

In the late 1800s they were having a difficult time selling Cracker Jack because the molasses and moisture made the product clump together and hardened when exposed to the air. Henry Eckstein went to Germany where he paid a man $500.00 ( a lot of money back then) to teach him how to make waxed paper. This is from Henry Eckstein's original diary that I have here. I would have to look up the name, but the man claimed that his grandfather (in Germany) invented waxed paper in the 1850s. Henry Eckstein was the Treasurer of the company and became a full partner as well as being in charge of the packaging afterwards. He had developed a triple seal package and a waxed dipped package that was able to be shipped all over the country. Without it the product was destined to be sold only near the Chicago area where it was made. There were special concessions that had to be made to the packaging for the humid South.

Hope this info helps.
Ron

"When you are really good, they call you Cracker Jack"

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

This is a perfect example of why this board is so great. We get a nutshell history not only of CJ but also its packaging, an update to same and a picture of a very colorful card you hardly ever see all in one thread. Yowsa!