Cracker Jack Tradition Still A Hit With Baseball Fans

Cracker Jack was invented in the late 1800s, but it didn’t take long until fans were singing "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack..." after the caramel popcorn snack food was immortalized in the immortal 1908 song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Traditionally, the song is sung during the seventh inning stretch at many games.

This venerable brand, famous for the small prize included in each package, is still selling at baseball parks, according to The New York Times. At Fenway Park in Boston, built in 1912 and the oldest Major League ballpark in the U.S., over 1,000 bags of Cracker Jack are typically sold during a game.

Ballpark food has changed to keep up with the times. In some parks, sushi and clam chowder join old-standbys like hot dogs and peanuts. But Cracker Jack stays strong: "It does still have relevance. It's part of the ballpark experience," says Kevin Haggerty, Fenway Park's head of concessions. "It holds its place in the sales mix. And it's in the song."

In fact, brand loyalty is so high that removing Cracker Jack from the concession offerings can cause mutiny. In 2004, the New York Yankees tried to replace Cracker Jack with a similar snack called Crunch 'n Munch. "Fans rebelled, using a double-barreled argument of ballpark tradition and the seventh-inning lyrics. Two months later, Cracker Jack was back," says the Times.

Frito-Lay, which acquired the brand in 1997, says Cracker Jack is sold at all Major League ballparks, though it does better at some than others. Baseball accounts for a large part of Cracker Jack sales. No doubt Frito-Lay is confident that Cracker Jack will continue to be a big hit.