There was always speculation about who is the face of the Gerber baby. Some people still think it’s Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, or Ernest Borgnine when he was a baby. Well, bad news for them because none of the celebrity faces listed above appear on Gerber’s baby food jars. But who is it then? Who is the mysterious boy?
The history dates back to 1928 when Gerber Products Company, formerly the Fermont Canning Company, owned and operated by Frank Daniel Gerber and his son Daniel Frank Gerber, began producing Gerber baby food. They wanted to find a baby face that would represent their company and they organized a contest that same year.
As expected, they received hundreds of paintings, drawings and sketches. Surprise, surprise, back then they didn’t have digital cameras. The winner was Dorothy Hope Smith from New England, who submitted an unfinished charcoal drawing, or rather sketch, of a baby with messy hair, big blue eyes, and round lips. She told the judges that if her sketch wins the competition, she will finish it professionally. There was no need for that because the judges liked the way she looked. It was exactly what they had been looking for; a healthy and beautiful baby face.
And who was the baby? Well, her name is Ann Turner (cook) and she was a five-month-old baby at the time. She is the best known baby in the world because in a very short time – about 60 days – the Gerber baby symbol had achieved national recognition; a little later also international. From 1928, her face appeared on all Gerber products and in advertising, and in 1931 she became the company’s official trademark.
By the way, she is a retired English teacher and lives in Florida. She raised four children and became a mystery novelist. Her books include Trace Their Shadows, Shadow over Cedar Key, and Homosassa Shadows. She received a one-time cash payment from the company ($5,000) in 1951 and Dorothy Hope Smith received $300 for the rights to her drawing, but neither received royalties for the famous image.
So this is the story of the Gerber baby face!