Overview
Ritz Crackers is a brand of snack cracker introduced by Nabisco in 1934. The original style crackers are disc-shaped, lightly salted, and approximately in diameter.. Each cracker has seven perforations and a finely scalloped edge. Today, the Ritz cracker brand is owned by Mondelēz International.
A single serving of the original cracker (about 5 crackers or 15 grams) provides of food energy, 1 gram of protein, and 4 grams of fat; the whole wheat variety provides and 2.5 grams of fat.
History
In the early 1900s, the Jackson Cracker company of Jackson, Michigan, developed a small, round cracker called the Jaxon. The company was bought out by Nabisco in 1919. Nabisco introduced the Ritz Cracker in 1934. Looking to compete with the similar Hi Ho cracker made by their competitor Sunshine Biscuits, they tasked an employee, Sydney Stern, to create a name and a marketing plan. Stern chose the name 'Ritz', which appealed to individuals enduring the privations of the Great Depression by offering them "a bite of the good life". He also designed the blue circle/yellow lettering logo design, inspired by the round label inside his hat. In 2011, Ritz was identified in a YouGov poll as the "best perceived snack brand" among American consumers.
A cartoon drawing of a box of Ritz Crackers can be seen in Mickey’s Surprise Party (1939), an animated theatrical advertisement/cartoon short produced by Walt Disney Productions for Nabisco.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).