Having a ball with Cracker Jack

By Tom Harte

This week the 114th World Series will begin. The team I routinely root for isn't in it this year. (Actually, I usually root for two teams: the Cardinals and whoever is playing the Cubs.)

Nonetheless, I'll keep an occasional eye on the action and follow the progress of the Series until it's over. And as I do, you can be sure, in the spirit of the game, I'll consume plenty of my favorite snack, what some culinary historians regard as the first junk food: Cracker Jack. At nearly every Major League game during the seventh inning stretch people sing its praises as part of the verse to the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack" is undoubtedly the most famous line from the ditty. To the makers of Cracker Jack the line has certainly been the most valuable. Someone once tried to figure out the worth of the musical plug by comparing it to the cost of buying advertising on the outfield walls of every major league stadium and concluded that such a campaign would cost roughly $25 million a year. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" furnishes Cracker Jack the equivalent every year for free, making the song the greatest product placement scheme in the history of marketing.

The songwriters Jack Norworth and Albert von Tilzer probably had little idea how profitable their song could be when they composed it, decades before either of them would ever attend a major league game. The idea for the ode came to Norworth as he was riding the New York subway when he spied a sign promoting a Giants game at the Polo Grounds.

The final step in making homemade Cracker Jack involves a stint in the oven to crisp it up.TOM HARTE

Since then the song has been performed thousands of times, and that's just by the late Harry Caray alone. It got some additional exposure during the 1994 players' strike when an Ohio radio station as a protest played it continuously. History does not record whether Cracker Jack sales spiked as a result. But this much is certain: Cracker Jack has become synonymous with America's pastime. Thus, when the Yankees several years ago tried to replace the snack with a competitor, Crunch 'n Munch, fans revolted.

Even before Cracker Jack became inextricably linked to baseball, it hit a home run with the public when it was introduced at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago by Frederick "Fritz" Rueckheim and his brother Louis, German immigrants whose business started with a popcorn cart. It got its name when someone tasting it for the first time used a slang expression of the day, "That's a crackerjack," meaning first-rate, to describe it. Soon it was being sold in specially designed wax paper-lined boxes containing little prizes and emblazoned with an image of the founder's grandson dressed in a sailor suit, becoming for a time the world's biggest selling packaged confection.

The prizes aren't what they used to be but there's still nothing like the thought of eating more Cracker Jack to make any fan wish for extra innings.

Homemade Cracker Jack

Making your own Cracker Jack not only produces a treat vastly superior to the commercial product, but allows you to go heavy on the peanuts, which in the traditional boxes have declined precipitously over the years. You won't strike out with this recipe adapted from the Kitchn website, thekitchn.com.

Cracker Jack, a treat synonymous with America's pastime, is still available in the iconic box featuring an image of the founder's grandson dressed in a sailor suit.TOM HARTE

• 16 cups popcorn
• 2 cups roasted and salted Spanish peanuts
• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Transfer popcorn to a large stockpot. Add peanuts and toss until combined. Melt butter over medium heat and whisk in brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, and salt. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches the firm ball stage (250 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour over popcorn and toss until evenly coated. Divide between two greased sheet pans spreading evenly and bake at 250 degrees for 50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Sprinkle with sea salt and let cool for 20 minutes, then separate into individual pieces.