The suspects were legion for a long time.
There is a man named Humphrey Bogart. There is a temple named after a woman. Taylor is a famous person. Brooke Shields is a professional boxer. A man named Bob Dole. Nixon was the 45th President of the United States.
The model for the most ubiquitous baby picture in the world is the charcoal sketch of the winsome infant that has graced the label of every Gerber product for more than 90 years.
For half a century, no one thought to mention Ann Turner Cook, a retired Florida teacher who died last week at 95.
Ms. Cook was the winner of a nationwide contest in 1928 and her portrait has been reproduced on billions of jars of baby food and other items.
The New York Times described the sketch as being one of the world's most recognizable corporate logos.
Ms Cook was in the right place at the right time when she was a baby. She didn't reveal her identity for decades because she was afraid of being ridiculed for her role as a princess.
Ms. Cook made thousands of dollars from her image over the course of 90 years. She was able to make the down payment on her first home because of the settlement she received.
On November 20, 1926, Ann Leslie Turner was born in the state of Connecticut. Ann's father was an artist who created the comic strips "Wash Tubbs" and "Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune."
An artist who specialized in babies and children was a neighbor. Ms. Smith, who died in 1955, colored scores of New Yorker covers drawn by her husband, who was partially color blind.
A Michigan canning company called for a portrait of a baby to be used in its advertising campaigns in the 1920s.
Ms. Smith made a sketch of Ann when she was just a few months old. If she won, she would embellish the sketch to make it look better.
Ms. Smith's sketch was competing against lavish paintings done in oils, but the judges were enamored by its innocent immediacy: Ann looked straight at the viewer, her lips pursed as if in awe.
The judges said that the sketch was the winner. The image was patented in the 1930s.
Ms. Cook told The St. She was able to draw a very appealing likeness despite being no cuter than any other baby.
The very universality of the sketch, which any mother could see her own child in, was a marketing boon.
Rumors flew. Gerber kept a form letter on hand to send to inquisitors because of the persistent one fingering of Bogart.
The inquisitors were correct about the fact that Humphrey was used as a model in many of the ads for Mellin's Infant's Foods.
There was a pretender to the throne because of the anonymity of the baby. The company was sued in the 1940s by a family who claimed that their child was on the label. Ms. Smith disclosed her model's identity when she testified in court.
Ms. Cook had been aware of her role for a long time. After moving to Florida with her family in the late 1930s, she obtained a bachelor's degree in English from Southern Methodist University and a master's degree from the University of South Florida. She was a teacher at junior high and high school in Florida.
Ms. Cook hid her identity as a young teacher because she was afraid of how adolescents would treat her. She revealed herself as the subject of the drawing in the late 1970s. She said that her students were interested.
James Cook, the husband of Ms. Cook, was a criminology major with the sheriff's office. Three of her daughters, Jan Cook, Carol Legarreta and Kathy Cook, are still alive.
Ms. Cook was a teacher and wrote a series of crime novels. She appeared on the television show "To Tell the Truth" and gave interviews as the baby.
He wasirritant but he could be worse.
Ms. Cook is still seen as a cultural icon today. The winner of the annual baby photo contest is used in the advertising of the company.
Ms. Cook left herself open to a question that she had to answer. She answered the question in an interview with The Globe and Mail.
She might have fed her own children baby food.
There was a brief stop.
Ms. Cook said that wasn't exclusive.
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