Lou’s View – Aug. 25, 2016
The Man Who did not Invent Cracker Jacks
by Lou Bernard
I can imagine getting a call from someone who is not pleased with my column. Every now and again, I write something that offends somebody out there, and they give me a call to let me know. “Where did you get your information?” they shout at me over the phone. “From a box of Cracker Jacks?”
To be clear, nobody has actually called me up and said exactly this. I’m just saying I can envision it happening. And it doesn’t particularly bother me, as some of the most awesome stuff comes out of Cracker Jack boxes. I had a whole collection of decoder rings and little toy animals as a kid.
I bring this up because there’s a rumor that Cracker Jacks were invented by a citizen of Clinton County, but it’s time to clear that up.
On my desk is an obituary for Guy Achenbach, printed on October 9, 1968. Achenbach claimed to have invented Cracker Jacks.
He probably didn’t.
Guy Achenbach was born on July 2, 1881 in Topeka. His father, Byron Achenbach, was from a Sugar Valley family, and in 1896, the family moved to Lock Haven and began an ice cream business. Byron liked the business so much that he created a small monument to it in the sidewalk. It exists to this day—When you walk beside Fallon Alley on the north side of Main Street, there’s a place on the sidewalk with a small stone bar of ice cream. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, all made from stone and embedded in the concrete. This was placed there by Byron, when his business was still in that location. (I walked over this thing for fifteen years before I figured out what it was. But I’m kind enough to offer this information to you for free.)
Guy later purchased the business and ran it until 1931, specializing in baking and sugar design. In his obit, he claims to have invented Cracker Jacks while working for a Pittsburgh candy manufacturer in his youth. The obit says that Achenbach came up with the idea of putting sugar syrup on popcorn, and named it. He was allegedly given five dollars for his invention, which I can’t imagine lasted all that long.
Out of curiosity, I called up Frito-Lay, which owns Cracker Jacks, and asked if they could give me some history on the product. Actually, first I asked if they still make those decoder rings, but they don’t seem to. And then I got to asking about the Cracker Jacks, because I’m a history writer with way too much time on my hands.
According to the official word from the company, Cracker Jacks were invented in 1893 by F.W. Rueckheim. Though the woman I spoke with couldn’t offer me a decoder ring, she was really good about providing me with accurate historic information. Rueckheim first debuted his invention at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The product went into full production in 1896.
You may recognize this as being distinctly different from Achenbach’s claim, what with Pittsburgh and Lock Haven having nothing to do with the invention. I’m terrible at math, but even I can figure out that Guy Achenbach was twelve years old when Cracker Jacks were first sold, making him unlikely to have been their creator.
This is not to say that Achenbach was a bad guy; he was actually pretty cool. By all accounts, he gave elaborately decorated birthday cakes to his friends, and his father’s ice cream business often donated ice cream to the hospital for holidays. He was definitely one of the good guys. But the bit about his invention of Cracker Jacks seems to be a somewhat fanciful tall tale.
I’m glad we’ve set the record straight on that, anyway. And, yes, I did get my information from a box of Cracker Jacks, or at least from Frito-Lay’s spokesperson. You can even double-check me if you want; the number is 1-800-352-4477. I’ve managed to clear that up, and clarifying local history is what I do. Now, where’s my decoder ring?
