The History of Ritz Crackers

Whether paired with cheese or peanut butter, you can’t beat a cracker for a versatile snack. Perhaps the most well known cracker brand is the well loved Ritz. Buttery and flaky, with the right amount of crunch, these classic crackers are many snacker’s favorite. But how long have they been around, and who came up with them? A vintage ad we recently dug up from an antique store sparked these questions in our mind, so we looked it up! Let’s dive in to the history behind this beautiful vintage ad.

When was Ritz founded?

The company Ritz Crackers was formed right in the middle of the great depression, in the year 1934. However, the development of the cracker began a little earlier in the 1900s. A small company called the Jackson Cracker company invented a small round cracker they dubbed the Jaxon. In 1919, the company was bought by Nabisco, who later renamed it to Ritz Cracker.

How did Ritz get its name?

Nabisco wanted to compete with a popular cracker company at the time, Sunshine Biscuits. They tasked an employee, Sydney Stern, to come up with a name and marketing campaign. He was inspired by the label inside his hat, one with a blue background and yellow lettering. He proposed the name Ritz, along with the slogan “a bite of the good life.” He hoped to market the cracker as an affordable snack that felt fancy, or “ritzy,” to people living in such hardship. His superiors initially feared that the name would rub people the way, but to their relief, it was a huge success.

Ritz advertising trends

Throughout the rest of the great depression and WWII, Ritz continued to lean into their brand identity as a bougie, high-end snack that was available to the common folk. Many of their ads emphasize how much everyone loves Ritz, how they come in handy for so many occasions, and how they are especially great for hosting parties.

During the war, they jumped on the band wagon, as many companies did, and emphasized how great Ritz was for service men and women. We love the patriotism and the charm.

Keeping it classic

Over the years, Ritz has put less of an emphasis on being the fancy cracker option, but they have changed very little about the design of either the cracker or their branding. Yes, they’ve modernized a bit, but the classic yellow on blue lettering with a red background has remained the same. And after all these years, their simple buttery crackers are still the favorite of many households in America.

We hope you enjoyed learning about the beginning of this celebrated snack! If you’re interested in purchasing the original ad that inspired this article, head over to our Etsy shop and check it out. It’s from 1936, just two years after Ritz came into being, and you can get it framed and ready to hang!