“The Gerber Baby” for Gerber Strained Foods is a real person.
In 1928, the Fremont Canning Company held a contest. They asked participants to draw a face of a baby that they could use as part of an upcoming baby food advertising campaign for their Gerber Strained Foods product. Artist Dorothy Hope Smith of Westport, Connecticut specialized in children’s drawings, and happened to live next door to a couple who had an adorable baby. She submitted an unfinished charcoal sketch of her neighbor’s baby, telling judges that if she won, she’d finalize the drawing. Gerber not only chose Smith’s sketch, they wanted no changes made to it. The image of a happy, healthy baby soon became the face that launched the Gerber brand.
The baby is, in fact, Ann Turner Cook, a mystery novelist and retired English teacher. Ann was just a few months old when her neighbor sketched her. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the company paid Ann a lump sum of money for her role as their iconic brand mascot. Ann died on June 3, 2022 at the age of 95.
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