Organic Essentials

Gerber Childrenswear LLC is a leading marketer of infant and toddler apparel and related products in the marketplace - offering all of the everyday, core layette apparel including Onesies® Brand one piece underwear, sleepwear and accessories that mom needs for baby’s first years. We are the original maker and owner of the Onesies® Brand trademark* which has been a staple product in babies wardrobes throughout the U.S. for over 30 years. It seems that everybody knows the Gerber Baby. That happy, healthy face is recognized all over the world. The name behind the face, however, has long been something of a mystery. People polled throughout the United States have guessed that the Gerber Baby grew up to be Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, and even Bob Dole. But Ann Turner Cook, mystery novelist, and retired English teacher knows the real answer. She was the subject of a simple charcoal sketch by Dorothy Hope Smith, an artist who specialized in drawing children.

In 1928, Gerber was seeking a baby face for the ad campaign introducing its newly developed baby food. Smith submitted her drawing amid elaborate oil paintings and said that she could finish the sketch if it was accepted. The Gerber execs were so taken with it that they claimed it as it was, and the Gerber Baby made her debut. The illustration soon became so popular that Gerber adopted it as its official trademark in 1931. Since then, the Gerber Baby has appeared on all Gerber packaging and in every Gerber advertisement, making her the world's best-known baby.

 

In December 1996, Ann Turner Cook herself was present at the unveiling of Gerber's first new label in more than 40 years. And while Gerber Baby Foods are sporting a new look, Mrs. Cook's young face is still a part of the Gerber image, a fact she finds "especially gratifying." But not surprising. After all, that face has come to represent Gerber's commitment to happy, healthy babies all over the world.

Gerber's commitment to excellence has remained a constant guiding force for over 90 years. Gerber today is as dedicated to the well-being of babies all over the world, as it was when it began in 1928, and as it will be in the years to come.