“Many years before becoming an extraordinary mother, teacher and writer, her smile and expressive curiosity captured hearts everywhere and will continue to live on as a symbol for all babies. We extend our deepest sympathies to Ann’s family and to anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her,” wrote Gerber in the post. “Gerber is deeply saddened by the passing of Ann Turner Cook, the original Gerber baby, whose face was sketched to become the iconic Gerber logo more than 90 years ago.” The daughter of a syndicated comic strip writer and artist, Cook was just four months old when the family’s neighbor, Dorothy Hope Smith, made a sketch of the cherubic baby in charcoal. Smith submitted her sketch to the Fremont Canning Company’s nationwide competition to find the face of their baby food campaign. (The company was ultimately called Gerber Baby). Although more elaborate images were submitted, the judges were completely smitten with the simple sketch of the expressive tyke. First seen in Good Housekeeping in 1928, Cook’s radiant face was so beloved, by 1931 it became the official trademark of Gerber Baby food. For decades and decades, the image was placed on countless Gerber items including baby food, juice and formula. Although Cook knew that she was indeed the Gerber baby, Gerber kept the identity of the baby on the label a secret. In 1978, Gerber, celebrating their 50th anniversary, finally revealed Cook to be the world-famous face. Cook, a junior high school and high school English teacher in Tampa, who ultimately became the department chairwoman of Hillsborough High School. She had a bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and earned a master’s degree from the University of South Florida. After she retired, she wrote several mystery novels. Cook is survived by three daughters, a son, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Her criminologist husband, James Cook, passed away in 2004. in 2013, Cook shared with CBS Sunday Morning that her children cherished spotting their mother’s iconic face on the packaging. “My own children would go through a grocery store, and they would point to the Gerber baby food and say, ‘That’s my mother’s picture,’ to whoever was walking by,” she said. And Cook was also proud. “That’s my immortality,” she told Fox 13. “I’ve become a symbol for babies, which couldn’t be anything nicer than that.” Next, Remembering the Stars and Legends We’ve Lost In 2022
