203. Cracker Jack
I know you're looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks
But there ain't no Coupe de Ville
Hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box
- Meat Loaf, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” 1977
The Prize Inside has always been the real prize. Not even the company knows how many have been made, although the number is in the low tens of billions. Most have been lost. For decades, the prizes were cool: baseball cards, miniature books, metal “clickers” in the shape of small animals. In the 1960s, tiny train sets and circus wagons arrived. But safety regulations and cost doomed the small toys; only paper prizes have been awarded since the 1990s.
In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Holly Golightly’s amour Fred finds a ring in a box of Cracker Jack, which they take to Tiffany’s to be engraved.
Tiffany’s salesman: Do they still really have prizes in Cracker Jack boxes? Fred: Oh, yes. Tiffany’s salesman: That’s nice to know. It gives one a feeling of solidarity, almost of continuity with the past, that sort of thing.
In 2016, Cracker Jack announced they were phasing out the prizes in favor of a QR code for a downloadable app with games. This morning, however, I purchased a bag of Cracker Jack. The prize wasn’t a code, but a sticker with a “would you rather” question (travel to the future or the past?) and the link to their online arcade. I had trouble beating the computer on Connect Four.
Special thanks to Steve Satterwhite for suggesting Cracker Jack.
Links:
Cracker Jack Collectors Association
Cracker Jack online arcade - official website
Not enough nuts? At the seventh annual Cracker Jack Collectors Association Convention, all that's lost is restored. - Pegi Taylor, Salon.com, July 19, 2001
Crackerjack Idea Is a Prize – Ronald L. Soble, Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1985 (paywall)
Say good-bye to your childhood. Cracker Jack prize replaced by video games – Lonnie Brown, USA Today, September 2, 2022
This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
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