I bought my kids some Cracker Jack today, 4 boxes total and each boxes had a stupid tattoo or joke on a piece of paper. I think I remember as a kids (many, many moons ago) that the prizes in the box, while not earth shattering, were always neat and as a young boy I looked forward to getting one. I can’t seem to remember specifically what they were, but seem to remember them being made our of plastic and some had to be put together. Am I just losing my memory or did the prizes used to be something wee looked forward to?
How far back do you want to go? I was born in 1973 and the prizes were tiny and cheap when I was a little kid. They had little (terrible) plastic toys back then though. I think it is all paper today.
There is an article on them in Wikipedia. It sounds like they were never very good except possibly in the first years (about 1912) when you could get a couple of baseball cards out of them or maybe a cheap decoder ring.
I wouldn’t exactly call them neat, but they used to be actual prizes for the most part. Someone gave me a three pack of boxes a few weeks ago I found them…underwhelming. In one was a joke, in another was a crappy tattoo, in the third was an identity guesser “game”. The product itself wasn’t much better not a lot of caramel flavor, and virtually no peanuts, in fact one box only had three.
It is not just you. They have been on a steady decline for years.
I think the switchover must have been some time in the 80s, because I can remember a distinct switch from crappy toy to crappy slip of paper during my childhood.
I was born in 1966, and I would agree that the prizes were never great I seem to remember them giving a few minutes of entertainment. My kids don’t even look at them to see what they are. Of course I grew up without a Playstation, cartoons on TV 24/7, so maybe I was just bored.
It’s probably due to being a potential choking hazard. Do they still have peanuts?
nothing beat the magnifying glass (plastic).
They had some decent prizes when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s. Of course, you had to eat the Crackerjack to get them. 
I remember some puzzle games (mazes, for instance), whistles, and other things.
I’m really surprised that they don’t go back to the baseball card model. Flat, paper, cheap, but they would encourage trading/collecting in a way that the current inclusions don’t. A Skylanders game card or something would be far more interesting than a crappy temporary tattoo.
Yep, magnifying glasses, those pictures that change when you tilt them, small plastic enclosed mazes with a little silver ball, stuff like that.
There were some decent prizes in the early 60’s, decent for Crackerjack anyway. I remember the cheap ‘hologram’ things where there was different picture from different angles, the little maze thing occasion, though really small, plastic rings, a little plastic racecar sort of like the monopoly piece maybe, I’m not getting a clear memory on that. Haven’t had any Crackerjack in ages. It’s not even in a box anymore is it?
Hah! Exactly the Cracker Jack prize I remember. Now that they’ve been mentioned, I remember the changing pictures as well. I bought some CJ at a ball game a while back, and it was this lousy “Who Am I?” thing with Alexander Hamilton of all people.
I’m not sure how Cracker Jack still survives.
With both Fiddle Faddle and Crunch-n-Munch being far superior products I find Cracker Jack barely edible.
I haven’t had it in about 6 or 7 years, but yes, it was still in those little boxes. The peanut count was pretty pathetic.
When I was four years old (in 1965) the compass was cool.
I’m sure it helps to be immortalized in song. If you want “The American Baseball Experience (R)” you’ll have to buy some.
And I think an awful lot of people buy what I call “comfort brands” - things they like only because they grew up with it. Cracker Jack, most domestic beer, Spam, potted meat, and Cheese Whiz are all firmly in that category as far as I’m concerned.
Two words: baseball games.
I remember the magnifying glass, changing picture, crappy ball maze, and also a plastic spinning top.
They also had tattoos, but you would get like a book of them. And there were stickers too.
I also remember a tiny, plastic tank.