Ann Turner Cook, the owner of the sweet, cherubic face featured on all Gerber’s baby products and advertisements, has just celebrated her 93rd birthday, People reported.
Known as the cutest and arguably most recognized baby face in the world, the sketch of the smiling, sparkling-eyed tot has graced the label of Gerber goods since 1928.
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Gerber celebrated Cook’s incredible milestone with a special throwback Instagram post.
“Happy birthday to the OG—that’s Original Gerber—baby, Ann Turner Cook!” the company captioned the photo showing a smiling Cook sitting in front of a jar of baby food. “For over 90 years, it’s been our pleasure to welcome countless babies to our ever-growing Gerber family.”
They continued, “Our dedication to each and every generation of little ones has long been part of our heritage, and we’ll always take time to celebrate a true classic!”
In 1928, Gerber held a nation-wide contest to find the perfect face to represent a new baby food advertising campaign.
Artist Dorothy Hope Smith entered a simple charcoal sketch showing a tousled-haired, angelic baby giving a look of sweet surprise. Although it was unfinished, the judges fell in love with Smith’s entry, which turned out to be a sketch of her four-month-old neighbor.
Smith offered to finish the drawing and add more details but the company was content with it as-is.
For years, the identity of the famous Gerber baby remained an oft-discussed and highly debated mystery.
Actor Humphrey Bogart was once rumored to have posed for the sketch, as well as Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Seymour, and even Senator Bob Dole.
The question wasn’t officially answered until 1951, when a woman approached Gerber to identify herself as the celebrity tot.
English teacher and mystery novelist, Ann Turner Cook, officially put a name to the face after years of being one of only a few people to know just who the famous Gerber baby really was.
She was paid $7,500 for her image from the company.
Cook spoke with *People* in 1976 to discuss her fame and admitted, “It’s not anything I did myself.”
“I’m more proud of having earned my master’s degree after 13 years as a housewife, of having worked my way up to chairman of the English department of a large high school, and of my 29-year marriage,” she told the publication.
Now happily retired, Cook has remained in the public’s eye through various Gerber campaigns.
In 2018, she posed for a touching photo with 18-month-old Lucas Warren, the first Gerber baby with down syndrome.
She also officially welcomed Lucas into the Gerber family in a post on the company’s Instagram in which she said, “I am delighted to take part in this celebration. Lucas is precious and I look forward to watching him grow this year.”
h/t: People
