KUSA - Most know the 'Gerber Baby face,' but may never have been able to put a name to it.
The woman captured in the iconic logo of the baby food company turned 89 years old on Friday.
In 1928, Gerber held a contest to find a face for the baby food's advertising campaign. An artist named Dorothy Hope Smith entered the now-infamous sketch, done in charcoal, to the contest. When she submitted it, the sketch wasn't even completed and Smith wrote she would finish it if it won.
The judges for the contest fell in love with the sketch as it was, and an icon was born. In 1931, the baby sketch was adopted as Gerber's official trademark, appearing on all of the company's packaging and in every advertisement since then.
The name behind the cherubic face wasn't revealed until 1978.
Ann Taylor Cook, a mystery novelist and retired English teacher, is the little-known name behind the well-known face.
The artist who drew Ann was a friend of the Turner family.
But, no, unless your baby gets a contract with a professional modeling agency, they probably won't become the next Gerber Baby. The company regularly responds to such inquiries on their social media, saying all of their publicity is handled by an unnamed agency. Gerber says all the babies appearing in their advertisements are actually professional models who are clients of modeling agencies.
(© 2015 KUSA)
