better times
Posted on 06/05/2022 12:38:50 AM PDT by Morgana
The original Gerber baby, whose face has been on the jar for more than 90 years, died at age 95 on Friday, the company confirmed.
The firm said it was 'deeply saddened' by the loss of Ann Turner Cook and offered their condolences to the family.
'Many years before becoming an extraordinary mother, teacher and writer, her smile and expressive curiosity captured hearts everywhere and will continue to live on as a symbol for all babies,' Gerber wrote in an Instagram tribute.
Cook, who was born in 1926, only spent a few months of her life not being the iconic face of the one the biggest American baby brands.
Her neighbor, Dorothy Hope Smith, drew the little girl using charcoal and entered her sketch into a 1928 baby food advertising campaign held by Gerber. The company wanted to change up their packaging from ABC blocks to an actual baby's face.
Smith noted to the company that she would complete the sketch and make it into an oil painting if she were to win, but the company loved the basic sketch so much, they decided to keep it.
Cook's face became the trademark of the brand in 1991 and they copyrighted it in 1993 after it gained so much popularity.
The original sketch is actually framed and still at the company's Fremont, Michigan headquarters.
Over the years, speculation and rumors swirled that the famous baby was the likes of 'Humphrey Bogart or Elizabeth Taylor or Senator Bob Dole,' the company remarked. Gerber hid the Cook's identity for 40 years, only revealing the beloved face's name in 1978 after doing a survey for fans to guess who it was.
Cook herself didn't even know she was face of the baby brand until she was three years old.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
better times
I miss that America
Would be interesting to see other art by Dorothy Hope Smith. I wonder she’s done anything else notable? Her Gerber Baby sketch really is a beautiful and iconic piece of art even if it was for a commercial purpose.
RIP.
Nestle owns Gerber and is conspicuously absent in my
perfunctory web searches. Don’t be fooled by how
the “woke” owners are hiding from any associations.
Old time Gerber blue collar employees had pensions—new hires
are doing without at my former work place. Swiss based
management tool heaven has a price to pay.
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=Dorothy+Hope+Smith+artwork&iax=images&ia=images
Her commercial artwork appears to be drawings/paintings of children.
They certainly were.
I miss them.
That was back when women still got married and raised children.
They didn’t kill them because it might interfere with their lifestyle.
And their daughters weren’t forced by the government to shower with males at school.
Jim pulled the thread upon that person’s demise once.
If a person were thinking about positions, the Nestle flag
with the birds logo is fluttering over the Gerber baby’s head.
Please don’t place those bird droppings on Ann’s head.
Prayers to her family. May she rest in peace.
Toledo, OH (June 7th, 2022) - Netflix announces 3 new season remakes of Gerber Baby, featuring a black, special trans-sexual infant, from an oppressed background!
Ze will struggle to understand their changing sexuality in the face of White Oppression and Supremacy.
It’s gone. Not coming back.
Marilyn Chambers.
She had an interesting career.
L
True. It will never come back. Unfortunately.
Really going back to 2001. I have reasons for saying that but not elucidating at this time; not even in a PM.
2004 was the closest thing to normal I can remember.
Thanks. That led me to this article which has another of her illustrations and some info about her.
Interesting timing with the baby food crisis.
I’d bet she never had any baby formula.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.