Cracker Jack Co. Plant

Circa 1958

F. W. Rueckheim emigrated from Germany to Chicago in 1869.  In 1872, Rueckheim and his brother Louis formed F. W. Rueckheim & Bro., a small candy and popcorn shop.  business grew steadily and by the 1880s the brothers had relocated to a three-story plant on South Clinton Street.  In 1896, the company began to sell its caramel-coated popcorn under the "Cracker Jack" brand name, a name that would be made famous by Jack Norworth's 1908 song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."*  In 1912, when the company employed about 450 women and girls and 250 men and boys at its large new factory on South Peoria and Harrison streets it began to insert small toys into the packages with the popcorn.  This "prize in every box" marketing strategy proved successful.  In 1922, the name of the company, which made marshmallows and candies as well as its signature popcorn product, became Caracker Jack Co.  During the 1950s, the company employed over 1,000 Chicago-area residents.  During the last decades of the twentieth century, Cracker Jack was purchased by a number of large international food companies.  After being held for many years by Borden Foods Inc., the Cracker Jack brand was purchased in 1997 by the Frito Lay division of PepsiCo, the food giant based in Purchase, New York. 

In early 1896, the brothers applied for a trademark patent for "Cracker Jack", a name derived when a salesman allegedly exclaimed "That's a crackerjack!" after eating the candied popcorn that didn't stick together.  The treat, sold with the slogan "The more you eat, the more you want" soon took off and the company began shipping the confection throughout the United states and overseas.  It was the most popular confection in the world and was sold everywhere  because it was so popular.  Even 'The Cracker Jack Two-Step' was published in England with boxes of Cracker Jack on the sheet-music cover.

*By 1908, the candy was immortalized in a song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer in which a fictional Katie Casey asks her beau to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" where he would buy her "some peanuts and Cracker Jack". Today, the tune is sung at baseball parks across America at the seventh inning stretch.  

No one knows the precise date that Cracker Jack included the first prize in a package nor what that prize was.  The company had given out premiums before the turn of the century such as paper dolls with the purchase of a Happy Family Candy stick.

The toys disappeared from Cracker Jack in 2020, but it wasn't a sudden decision.  Cracker Jack had been including toys in their boxes since 1912.  However, due to safety concerns, particularly choking hazards for young children and rising costs, the company made the switch to include a digital download code for kids to access games and content instead of physical toys.  This change aimed to adapt to changing consumer preferences and safety regulations while still providing an exciting experience for kids.  

The most valuable Cracker Jack toys are the early 1914-1915 baseball cards with rare sets potentially worth over $100,000 and individual cards like Walter Johnson fetching high prices.  Other high-value items include unique early paper toys, metal items from the 1910s and special "put-together" toys from the 1960s with rarity, condition and nostalgic appeal driving value.  The strong sentimental attachment to these childhood toys drives the market. 

Cracker Jack brings back memories to everyone of a certain age.

Around 1930, the Cracker Jack company started keeping records of its prizes:  what they were, where they originated, the cost per thousand and distribution numbers.   Today Ebay continues to be a great marketplace for Cracker Jack prizes and collectors discover new items all the time.  It turns out Cracker Jack occasionally offered marbles inside their boxes.  These prizes included paper horns, whistles, miniature books or expanding fans.  Some of the most wonderful prizes came out during the Depression era.  It seems as if Cracker Jack made an extra effort to create prizes during that time when those prizes might be the only toys kids would get.

Some prizes were created by notable artists such as C. Carey Cloud (1899-1984) and John Craig. Cloud worked as a childen's book illustrator, greeting card designer and art director in Chicago before becoming a Cracker Jack prize designer.