Cracker Jack, the classic American snack food, became one of the most recognizable popcorn brands in the market thanks to an invention by the Rueckheim brothers in the 1890s.
Known for its caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts, the beloved treat built a lasting place in American snack history.
Frederick “Fritz” William Rueckheim, a German immigrant and his brother, Louis, introduced a different kind of finger food consisting of popcorn, caramel and peanuts, along with molasses, corn syrup, sugar, salt, vegetable oil and soy lecithin.
With its initial brand name, Candied Popcorn and Peanuts, the brothers combined common ingredients to create a distinctive snack with its own flavor, texture and identity.
In 1893, they reportedly introduced an early version of the snack, specifically the famous peanut and popcorn mixture at the Chicago World’s Fair.
Three years later, the Rueckheim brothers adopted the name “Cracker Jack,” along with the slogan “The More You Eat, The More You Want.”
Boxes of Cracker Jack are stacked at a Costco Wholesale store on April 27, 2025 in San Diego, California.Kevin Carter/Getty Images
In 1896, they officially trademarked the product in Chicago, Illinois, where they operated their candy and popcorn business.
As The Cracker Jack Company grew, the brothers launched Cracker Jack’s first mascots, Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo, in 1916 and registered them three years later.
Interestingly, the sailor boy’s image had a personal touch as it was inspired by Robert Rueckheim, the grandson of Frederick Rueckheim, while the now-famous dog was based on a real stray dog named Russell.
Nearly seven decades after the Rueckheim brothers introduced their signature snack, the Cracker Jack brand became the center of a corporate bidding war.
In 1964, the family sold The Cracker Jack Company to Borden, which outbid Frito-Lay to acquire the popular snack maker.
In the late 1990s, Borden shifted its focus toward grain products and pasta, leading the company to sell Cracker Jack to Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, in 1997.
From selling more than 137,754,000 boxes of Cracker Jack in 1927, the business grew into a multimillion-dollar brand, generating $68 million in sales in the United States.
“We are proud of every one of our products and their fifty-year records of purity and reliability,” Frederick Rueckheim wrote in the company’s 50th anniversary book.
Related: In 1948, Marie Callender sold her family’s only car to start a wholesale pie bakery; 46 years later, ConAgra paid $140 million for her recipes
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