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Economic Trade-off Analysis of Cracker Jack
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When I was little, Cracker Jack came in cardboard boxes, andthe prize inside was often pretty cool: a whistle or a ring,or some similar gadget. This was also in the days when OscarMayer gave away tiny hot-dog-shaped whistles as promotionalitems. In those days, whistles were pretty popular. Slidewhistles were a very common favor at birthday parties.
I remember an older cousin came back from the army once, andhe had a really cool whistle that played several differentnotes. It had come out of a box of cracker jacks.
My supplier in those days was my grandfather, who convenientlyowned a liquor store. My brother and sister played withmy cousins in canyons and caves made out of the corrugatedcardboard crates in the storeroom of beer and cigarettes. Of allthe goods in the store, the interesting ones were the freezer(ice cream), the candy rack, and the magazines (Archie, RichieRich, The Avengers, Fantastic Four…). The comics must havecome from a Marvel distributor rather than DC, because Batmanand Superman were rarities; Spiderman was ubiquitous.
Cracker Jack was advertised as America’s favorite snack. Therewere some drawbacks that were well-known to 10-year olds backthen. First, the pour spout was a fraud. “Push here to open” wasa lie. The box was not perforated there, and it was difficult ifnot impossible for small fingers to puncture the cardboard. Farmore effective was to peel away the outer wrapper and slip openthe box at a seam. The other well-known bug was that all thepeanuts were always at the bottom. The problem with the peanutsdidn’t bother me, however, since I didn’t care much for them.
I was in the store the other day, and ran into America’sfavorite snack again. The product hung in four-ounce bagsnear the bakery section of the supermarket. Bags of CrackerJack? The package coloring was the same, the logo was still aboy in a sailor outfit accompanied by a dog: Sailor Jack andBingo. It was 99 cents, and there was a surprise inside. Didn’tit used to specify a “toy” surprise inside?
I had known that for some time now, Cracker Jack did not comewith real toys; instead, today’s youngsters get tiny jokebooks or stickers. No whistles or rings or anything thatmight possibly present either a choking hazard or a potentiallawsuit. Besides, paper is a lot cheaper to manufacture thanplastic, so I’m sure the profit margins went up. Today’s prize,once I opened up the the package, was a paper ring.
