The bright-eyed, rosebud-lipped Gerber baby is one of the most iconic tots in the
world. But did you know that the image is based on real person?
Over the weekend, CBS Sunday Morning posted
an interview with Ann Turner Cook, the 85-year-old great-grandmother
whose cherubic baby face has reportedly graced all Gerber
packaging since 1931 when the company made it their official trademark.
"I can't think
of anything nicer than being a symbol for babies and that's what I think I
became," Cook told the news outlet.
According to the Gerber website, Cook's image was
chosen as the face for the company during a 1928 contest to "find a face
to represent a baby food advertising campaign." Artist Dorothy Hope Smith,
then a neighbor of Cook's family, entered a "simple charcoal sketch"
of Cook as 4-month-old baby to the contest -- and the rest, as
they say, is history.
"Her
drawing competed with elaborate oil paintings, but the judges fell in love with
the baby face Smith drew, and when they chose it as the winner, they insisted
that the simple illustration remain a sketch. The image of this happy, healthy
baby was soon to become the face that launched a brand, a face recognized and
loved across the globe," the company states.
Though Gerber chose a new baby
in 2012 to represent
their brand in advertising campaigns, Cook's face remains their brand's logo.
A widow with four children, eight
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, Cook is now a retired
high school English teacher and the author of the Brandy O'Bannon mystery
series.
This story was originally published on Huffington Post .
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