Then & now: Cracker Jack and its signature sailor mascot have
evolved over the years.

One of the oldest American forms of junk food, the Cracker Jack was invented
and trademarked in 1896 when the brothers who formed F.W. Rueckheim &
Bro., mixed molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts together.

Fredrich William Rueckheim

   
Louis Rueckheim
           

Today,January 19, celebrates all of the different ways the corn-based treat      
popcorn can be enjoyed savory or sweet, caramelized, buttered or plain.

The Popcorn Board, a non-profit started in 1998, says Americans consume
13 billion quarts of popcorn a year, more than any other country in the
world.

Ad appeared in the “Ladies’ Home  Journal,” December, 1956.

The Cracker Jack name was registered in 1896. A slogan, "The More You Eat
The More You Want", was also registered that year. Some food historians
consider it the first junk food.

   
Sailor Jack and Bingo.

    
Don’t forget the Surprise Inside.

The Ives Manufacturing Corporation made toy trains from 1868 to
1932.  For decades, Ives made clockwork trains, but created its
first electric train in 1910.