Cracker Jill has arrived at the ballpark. The special
edition version of the classic baseball snack, Cracker Jack, has gotten a
female makeover with girl-branded bags to celebrate women in sports.
This baseball season, Cracker Jack is donating $200,000 to
Women’s Sports Fund, there are five new bags with “Jills” by artist Monica
Ahanonu and singer Normani has recorded an updated version of “Take Me
Out to the Ball Game” with the lyrics, “Buy me some peanuts and cracker jill, no
one can stop you if you have the will…”
Turns out, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” has always been
girl-powered, though. Let us explain.
The sports anthem, usually sung during the seventh-inning
stretch of a baseball game, was written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer in 1908. Norworth dashed out the lyrics on a napkin in just a few minutes while
riding a subway train and Von Tilzer later added the music. The pair had never
actually attended a baseball game and the song was sung by Norworth’s then
wife, Nora Bayes, on the vaudeville circuit. In 1934, the song was played at
the World Series and it became a tradition.
The song you know, though, is just the chorus of the
original. Before that verse comes the story of Katie Casey, who was simply
“mad” about baseball. When a suitor comes calling, Katie will only agree to the
date if they go to a baseball game, not the theater as originally proposed. Katie
goes to the game, cheers for her favorite players, heckles the umpire and when
spirits are low, leads the “gang” in the song, which is when the chorus kicks
in for the second time.
Unhandled
In 1927, the pair rewrote the song to feature the tale of
Nelly and Joe, who go to a game at Nelly’s urging instead of Coney Island.
Nelly would go to the game and “root like any man.” So, you see, it’s been
about the baseball gals all along, not the popcorn, darling.
Cracker Jack has been around since the mid-1890s based on the
slang “crackerjack,” meaning of excellent quality. The song was giving the snack a
little free advertising with the shoutout in the chorus of the tune and it is ever intertwined with baseball season.
So, we’re all for the summer of Cracker Jill, but we hereby
petition to bring back all the original verses of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
and laud it for the female sports anthem it has always been.