FREE: CRACKER JACK SURPRISE (UNOPENED)

The listing, CRACKER JACK SURPRISE (UNOPENED) has ended.

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A German immigrant named Frederick William Rueckheim invented Cracker Jack. Rueckheim came to Chicago in 1872 to help clean up after the famous Chicago fire. He also worked selling popcorn from a cart. Together with brother Louis, Rueckheim experimented and came up with a delightful popcorn candy, which the brothers decided to mass market. Cracker Jack was first mass-produced and sold at the first Chicago World's Fair in 1893. (The Ferris Wheel, Aunt Jemima pancakes, and the ice cream cone were also introduced at the event.)

The treat was a mixture of popcorn, molasses, and peanuts and the initial name was "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts." Legend has it that the name "Cracker Jack" came from a customer who upon trying the treat exclaimed "That really a cracker - Jack!" and the name stuck. However, "crackerjack" was also a slang expression at that time that meant "something very pleasing or excellent" and that is more likely to have been the origin of the name. By 1896, the company devised a way to keep the popcorn kernels separate, the mixture had been difficult to handle because it tended to stick together in chunks. The wax-sealed, moisture-proof box was introduced in 1899. Immortalized in 1908 in the lyrics of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," Cracker Jack added surprises in each package in 1912.