At just four months of age, little Ann Turner Cook could never have dreamed that her face would become famous and beloved for generations. Now, as she turns 90, she still wears the same winning smile on her face that captivated hearts nine decades ago. Though her looks have, of course, changed over the years, she will always be known as none other than the original Gerber Baby.
Back in the year 1927, Dorothy Hope Smith, a friend of the family, decided to sketch a portrait of this bright-eyed baby girl. The medium she used was a simple rough charcoal on a plain, white canvas. That captivating portrait gained its claim to fame when the Gerber company announced a contest to find just the right representative to grace the labels of their baby food jars.
At the time of the contest, Miss Smith was not even finished with the portrait, having just drawn little baby Ann’s head, neck, shoulders, and part of her chest. A note was included with the portrait entry wherein Miss Smith vowed to complete the rest of the sketch if it was chosen to be the winner of the contest.
However, when the judge picked Miss Smith’s sweet sketch of little baby Ann, he decided that it would suit the company’s needs perfectly just as it was. So it came to pass that in 1931, the Gerber company released the original baby food jars featuring Ann Taylor Cook’s angelic portrait. Ever since that time, people have favorably compared cute babies to the adorable “Gerber Baby.”
To this day, this simple drawing sketched by the talented Dorothy Hope Smith remains the company’s official trademark. Her fans across the globe are taking this opportunity to wish Ann Taylor Smith the very best on her 90th Birthday. Many are thankful all these years later that the wise contest judge chose her sweet face to represent a brand that would bring nourishment to babies and support to parents starting way back in 1920s all the way up to the present day.