Original Gerber Baby Ann Turner Cook Turns 93 Years Old

Nov 21, 2019

Ann Turner Cook, an accomplished mystery writer who was also an English teacher, turned 93 on Wednesday, November 20th. Many people may not realize that her original claim to fame has nothing to do with her writing or teaching abilities. It involves an image of her face when she was just a little baby.

She is none other than the world-famous Gerber Baby. Her sketched image has appeared on the brand's baby food jars and other products for a span of nearly nine decades after it won a brand contest in the year 1928. It was in the year 1931 that the charcoal drawing, completed by Ann's family friend Dorothy Hope Smith, became Gerber's official trademark reports Fox.

The memorable sketch shows a wide-eyed, innocent-looking young Ann with her lips opened in a look of wonder and awe. Though the artist claimed she would transform the sketch into a more complete work of art if she won the contest, the judges were so smitten with the original sketch that they demanded it should become the official face of the Gerber brand.

The rest is history. All over the world, people have come to recognize and cherish this cherubic baby face that remains on Gerber products and in all of their advertisements to the present time.

For more than four decades, no one outside of Ann's family, the close inner circle at Gerber, and the artist were privy to the Gerber Baby's identity. All of that changed in 1978 when Gerber finally let the cat out of the bag and let the world know whose face they had been admiring for so long as per CNN.

Even at age 93, you can still see Ann's resemblance to that bright-eyed, adorable babe on the Gerber packaging. Over the years, she's had the privilege to be introduced to Gerber babies who have also been chosen to represent the brand over the years, such as 1-year-old Lucas Warren.

He became Gerber's first representative with Down's Syndrome. Lucas' family was on a trip to Florida when they met up with Ann in Tampa in 2018 according to CBS. The darling little boy smiled and waved at Ann as soon as the two met one another. His parents remarked on her kindness.

Do you know someone who would make a perfect Gerber Baby? Are you surprised to learn that the original is 92 years old now? We'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below. Pass this story along to anyone who enjoys reading uplifting stories!