Sad Devolution of Cracker Jack Prizes Mirrors Decline of America

Rectangular Mazes and Games - 1970s Cracker Jack Prizes
Rectangular Mazes and Games - 1970s Cracker Jack Prizes

It’s early April 2016.  You’re a junior associate at a PR firm.  You get an e-mail from your boss, Haston Lewis, senior director of marketing, Frito-Lay, saying, “Cracker Jack is dropping its prize and replacing it with a scannable code that will unlock four baseball-themed experiences on their mobile device.  Let’s sidestep the fact that the physical prize is being dropped, OK?”  And then the junior associate gets to work, pounding out PR-speak like

With this redesign and new mobile game experience, the Cracker Jack brand embraces a modernized, young-at-heart attitude while keeping that treasured feeling of childhood wistfulness.

Yes, this is a fictional look at what might have transpired.  But what’s true is this:  We are not fooled.  Sadly enough, the ascendancy, decline, and fall of the Cracker Jack prize–from The Metal Age down to what I call The Nothingness Age–follows the course of U.S. manufacturing.

The Metal Age

1930s:  Figural Tin Whistles

Cracker Jack Tin Whistles 1930s
Cracker Jack Tin Whistles 1930s

1940s:  Coins Commemorating U.S. Army

Cracker Jack Prizes Coins 1940s
Cracker Jack Prizes Coins 1940s

 

Cracker Jack Prize 1940s
Cracker Jack Prize 1940s

Paper prizes added to Cracker Jack during WWII to conserve resources.

The Plastic Age

1950s:  Miniature Dishes

Cracker Jack Prizes 1950s
Cracker Jack Prizes 1950s
Cracker Jack Prizes 1950s 2
Cracker Jack Prizes 1950s

1960s:  Colorful Plastic Animals

Cracker Jack Prizes Plastic Animals 1960s
Credit: RedStarVintage

Dome Dog 1960s Cracker Jack Prize

Dome Dog 1960s Cracker Jack Prize1970s:  Rectangular Mazes and Games

Rectangular Mazes and Games - 1970s Cracker Jack Prizes
Credit: The Art Is Cracker Jack / Rectangular Mazes and Games – 1970s Cracker Jack Prizes

The Paper Age

1980s to 2000s:  Flat, Dumb Pieces of Paper

The Nothingness Age

2016:  Q Code That Unlocks Baseball App

2016 Cracker Jack Scan Prize Baseball App
2016 Cracker Jack Scan Prize Baseball App

 

Published
Categorized as ApexUSA

By Lee Wallender

Deception, influence, fakes, illusions, themed environments, simulations, secret places, secret infrastructure, imagined places, dreamscapes, movie sets and props, evasions, camouflage, studio backlots, miniatures.

Leave a comment