Ann Turner Cook, the Original Gerber Baby has Died

She was 95.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I know. A day late and a dollar short. I’m cleaning out my drafts before I buckle down at 10 to do my “serious” writing.

I vaguely remember seeing that baby face on the jars as I was being fed. Moms everywhere would get their kids to focus on the baby on the jar so as not to focus on the stuff they were “airplaning” into hungry mouths.

Cook was one of us. Not only did she grow up to be an educator, but she was also a mystery writer. Her father, Leslie Turner, drew the comic strip Captain Easy. Apparently, creative talent ran through the neighborhood. According to Wikipedia:

The family’s neighbor was the artist Dorothy Hope Smith, who did a charcoal drawing of Ann when she was a baby. In 1928, when Gerber announced it was looking for baby images for its upcoming line of baby food, Smith’s drawing was submitted and subsequently chosen. It was trademarked in 1931.

She lived a good long life and passed away in Florida at the age of 95.

Job well done, Gerber Baby.