February 19. On this day in 1913, Cracker Jack put their very first prize in a box of the caramel corn treat. Cracker Jack was actually “invented” in the U.S back in 1896 – but it wasn’t until 1913 that the famous toy prizes were added. My human remembers the toy prizes when SHE was a kid- she said they were VERY cool. Today she thinks they are pretty boring – a sticker or fake tattoo. But I suppose - what kid wants a toy in a box of food, when they have an iPad to play with?
In 1916, the Cracker Jack packaging
included the logo of a sailor, Jack and his dog, Bingo. The sailor boy was modeled after the grandson
of one of the inventors and Bingo was modeled after a dog who had been a stray
– and who had been adopted by the man who created the unique wax packaging for the
product. Frankly, I think it was Bingo
who sold people on the stuff. I mean we
dogs CAN sell anything. The other day, I talked about
the Superbowl commercials with dogs, and through the years, we canines
have been in lots of different advertising. Here
are a few examples:
·
The terrier, Nipper was a well-known
figure in RCA Victor advertising.
·
The symbol for Hush Puppy shoes
was a basset hound.
·
Spuds Mackenzie, a bull terrier,
was used in advertising Anheuser-Busch brewing
for many years, until those Clydesdales took over.
·
Since 1999, a bull
terrier has been the mascot and symbol for Target stores.
·
Gidget, the Chihuahua
was famous in Taco Bell ads.
I’m sure there are others. However,
I have searched for PONs in advertising and had very little luck. The CLOSEST I could come was this commercial-
but I don’t think it’s really a PON. I
actually resent that the CLOSEST thing to a PON is an advertisement for stinky
dogs. Mind you, the car IS kind of
funny…
And speaking of PONs being ignored,
what’s with this Westminster thing? I
mean has a PON EVER won? I admit the
German Shorthaired Pointer was cute – and there WERE some nice dogs in the
grand finale at the end -but my money was on either the German Shepherd – since
we herding breeds need to stick together – OR the Skye terrier – because if you
saw one from FAR away – you could think it was a PON. If he had longer legs, you changed his coat
and his body shape. OK. Maybe he doesn’t
bear any resemblance to a PON, but since he came in Number 2 last year, I
thought he deserved to win this year. I
mean WHO would go back to that thing twice?
Anyway, that’s over for THIS year.
Congrats to all the winners.
Which means congrats to EVERY single dog – since we are ALL winners in
the hearts of our humans. And if you REALLY
want a prize, and you didn’t get one of those fancy ribbons, go and buy a box
of Cracker Jack. A prize is always GUARANTEED!
©
Linda Wozniak
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