Florida mystery writer enjoys notoriety as the Gerber Baby

By Mitch Stacy
The Associated Press

	CHRIS O'MEARA / AP Ann Turner Cook, in her Tampa, Fla., home, holds an image of herself as the Gerber Baby, a visage that is used on all Gerber baby food.
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Trouble is, the tough-guy actor was a grown man when the first Gerber jars appeared on store shelves in 1928.

Ann Turner Cook — the real, honest-to-goodness Gerber baby — has heard the tale.

Her face as a happy infant is forever etched in time on every label of every Gerber product sold in 80 countries, one of the most famous and enduring trademarks in history.

Cook these days is an energetic, 77-year-old fledgling novelist who is not above using her notoriety as America's most famous baby to drum up interest in her murder mysteries, which feature an erstwhile female reporter sniffing out intrigue in small Florida towns.

She once sold 10 copies in an hour at a book-signing at a Barnes & Noble store with a framed copy of her Gerber Baby drawing on the table next to her.

"In a way, I might be exploiting it a little," she said with a smile. "Being the Gerber Baby helps get people interested. I don't think it sells books, but it gets people interested in what I have to say."

Cook, the daughter of well-known comic-strip artist Leslie Turner, taught literature and writing in Tampa schools for 26 years and reared four children. Since retiring in 1989, she has published two novels regionally, with a third in the works.

But Cook no doubt always will be best known for her picture on the Gerber labels.

She was about 4 months old in 1927 when family friend Dorothy Hope Smith sketched the image in charcoal. Using a neighbor's baby as a model wasn't so unusual in the artist enclave of Westport, Conn., and nobody thought much about it.

Gerber in 1928 put out the call for images that could be used in ads for its new baby-food products, and Smith submitted the drawing.
 
"She wrote me (later) that she had thought it was kind of unfinished, and if they liked it she could finish it properly," Cook said of the sketch. "But they were smart enough that they didn't want anything done to it."

Her likeness started appearing on the products in 1928 and became the official trademark in 1931.

"The logo is the essence of who we are," said David Yates, vice president for Gerber's North America operations. "It is the epitome of a happy, healthy baby and the symbol of trust we have with parents."

Cook didn't have much contact with Gerber after the label came out, although the company paid her a lump sum around 1950 to settle any ownership issues after someone else came forward and claimed to be the Gerber Baby. She said the amount was enough for her and her husband to buy a car and put a down payment on a house.

She participated in the 50th anniversary celebration in 1978, then reconnected with the company again in the '90s, flying to its Michigan headquarters for anniversary celebrations.

"She inspires and is an absolute favorite of our employees," Yates said.

Yates said Gerber never considered changing the logo. Others think that was a good idea.

"There could be better baby foods, but if you own the concept of the beautiful baby, then you're golden," said Jim Twitchell, a University of Florida professor who has written five books on advertising and consumer culture. "And that's what Gerber owns, and it just made mincemeat out of all its competitors, and I think it was primarily because of what was on that label."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company