The Classic Cookie Gets a New Look IT’S A NEW ERA FOR ANIMAL CRACKERS
For many of us, Barnum’s Animals Crackers were a childhood staple. The animal-shaped crackers have been around since the late 1800s and can still be found today on store shelves and in home pantries.
Since those early days, the crackers’ packaging has maintained its iconic circus-wagon look, featuring a series of animals waiting in cages for their turn for a big-top performance.
Last year, the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the namesake of the crackers, said their 146-year-old circus was coming to an end. Circuses aren’t as popular as they once were and more people have spoken out on animal rights. For the company, it only made sense to update the look of the box and bring further attention to animal rights. In the past, Barnum’s Animals Crackers have been used to bring awareness to animal and environmental issues. As the Associated Press notes, “In 1995, [the company] offered an endangered species collection that raised money for the World Wildlife Fund. In 1997, it offered a zoo collection that raised money for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. And in 2010, it worked with designer Lilly Pulitzer on a pastel-colored box that raised money for tiger conservation.” This is a big step forward for the endearing animal cracker, which, with updated sensibilities, will likely remain a childhood staple for many more years to come.
However, with real-life circuses relying less and less on animal performances in the face of backlash against the treatment of performing animals, Nabisco, the maker of Barnum’s Animals Crackers, decided it was time for a change. Gone are the bars and gone is the circus theme. Instead, the new Barnum’s Animals Crackers box will feature the animals — a zebra, elephant, lion, giraffe and gorilla — in an open grassland setting. A spokesperson with Mondelez International, Nabisco’s parent company, said, “We felt this was the right time for the next evolution in our design, now showing the animals in a natural habitat.”
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING TEETH CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?
The following week, Phil finally found his dentures. His son was settling in on the couch to watch TV and as he went to wrap himself in an afghan, he felt something hard hit his hand. Lo and behold, Herbert Spencer had buried the teeth in the blanket. In the years after the dentures incident, the rogue cat stole many other small but important household items from Phil. In fact, the villainy occurred so often that Phil threw out the afghan to rob the cat of his favorite hiding spot. Now Phil holds on tightly to his teeth, just waiting to see what Herbert Spencer decides to purloin next.
As Canadian resident Phil Bailey was preparing to take a shower one morning, he took out his dentures and set them near the bathroom sink. But when he got out of the shower, the dentures were nowhere to be found! He and his wife searched for hours, but as the time for work grew nearer, Phil was forced to leave the house toothless. He spent the rest of the week that way. During one of his frustrated commutes to work, he started to suspect that either his son was pulling a prank on him or that his cat, named Herbert Spencer, had sneaked into the bathroom, stolen his dentures and hidden them somewhere in the house. Later that weekend, Phil (still toothless) traveled to the Tournament of the Bands to watch his son’s high school marching band compete. Unable to hide from friends and family his embarrassment at having lost his dentures, he explained his suspicion about Herbert Spencer’s possible mischief. One of his son’s classmates retorted, “What’s the matter, Mr. Phil? The cat got your teeth?”
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