The Gerber Baby Story

http://www.gerber.com/gerberbaby ^

[anniegetyourgun]

The name behind the face, however, has long been something of a mystery. People polled throughout the United States have guessed that the Gerber Baby grew up to be Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor and even Bob Dole. But Ann Turner Cook, mystery novelist and retired English teacher, knows the real answer. She was the subject of a simple charcoal sketch by Dorothy Hope Smith, an artist who specialized in drawing children.

In 1928, Gerber was seeking a baby face for the ad campaign introducing its newly developed baby food. Smith submitted her drawing amid elaborate oil paintings and said that she could finish the sketch if it was accepted. The Gerber execs were so taken with it that they claimed it as it was, and the Gerber Baby made her debut. The illustration soon became so popular that Gerber adopted it as its official trademark in 1931. Since then, the Gerber Baby has appeared on all Gerber packaging and in every Gerber advertisement, making her the world's best-known baby.

In December 1996, Ann Turner Cook herself was present at the unveiling of Gerber's first new label in more than 40 years. And while Gerber Baby Foods are sporting a new look, Mrs. Cook's young face is still a part of the Gerber image, a fact she finds "especially gratifying." But not surprising. After all, that face has come to represent Gerber's commitment to happy, healthy babies all over the world.

[anniegetyourgun]

Pretty cool....I always wondered.....

[anniegetyourgun]

Happy Friday, FR!

[EggsAckley]

Very sweet. Thanks for finding this. I TOO always wondered. Did you notice that she still looks like the sketch? So sweet.

[anniegetyourgun]

She still has that sweet face....now the face of a sweet grandma!

[sandbar]

She was an adorable baby.

[Lancey Howard]

I think the funnier story is the one about the laundry detergent (I forget which one) with a drawing of (future) porn star Marilyn Chambers holding a baby on the box. After the movie 'Behind the Green Door' came out (early '70s), the embarrassed company replaced Marilyn's picture with another woman and sales plummeted. So they put Chambers back on the box where I believe she remains to this day.

[PJ-Comix]

I thought John Kerry was the Gerber Baby.

[new cruelty]

no, but did you know he was in Vietnam?

[PJ-Comix]

My mistake. It turns out that John Kerry tried to date the Gerber Baby.

[Terry Mross]

Everybody knows Al Gore is the Gerber Baby. It's only right since he invented baby food.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I used to call on Gerber Foods in Fremont, MI. Years ago, I was in their lobby, waiting to see the buyer when I noticed several plant people wearing light blue baseball caps with the Gerber baby on a patch. The caps had enlongated bills and the sight of men and women, otherwise dressed in ordinary clothes but wearing absurd baby blue Gerber caps made me wonder if I'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.
I tried several times to get my hands on one of the caps but the plant guy explaned they were for employees only.