Sunny Jim
Encyclopedia
(1) a cartoon character created to promote Force cereal
Force (cereal)
Force, first produced in 1901 by Force Food Company, one of three American companies owned by Edward Ellsworth and advertised using a popular cartoon figure called Sunny Jim, was the first commercially successful wheat flake cereal. Prior to this, the only successful wheat-based cereal products...
, the first commercially successful wheat flake;
(2) the name of a brand of peanut butter produced in the Seattle area.
"Sunny Jim" has also been used as a nickname for various individuals.
Sunny Jim and Force cereal
The character on boxes of Force cereal was created in the United States in 1902 by writer Minnie Maud Hanff and artist Dorothy Ficken, initially for an advertising campaign. Rather than selling the benefits of eating wheat, which Hanff assumed customers already knew, her copy for the original advertisements told stories in verse, such as this one:- Jim Dumps was a most unfriendly man,
- Who lived his life on the hermit plan;
- In his gloomy way he'd gone through life,
- And made the most of woe and strife;
- Till Force one day was served to him
- Since then they've called him "Sunny Jim."
The advertisements featured slogans such as "Better than a Vacation” and “A Different Food for Indifferent Appetites.” Other verses included:
- Whatever you say, wherever you've been,
- You can't beat the cereal, that raised Sunny Jim!
and
- High o'er the fence leaps Sunny Jim,
- Force is the food that raises him
This last rhyme became a familiar catchphrase.
The campaign was wildly successful at promoting the character of Sunny Jim. Printer's Ink stated that “No current novel or play is so universally popular. He is as well-known as President Roosevelt or J. Pierpont Morgan.” However, the cereal company turned its advertising account over to a different firm, which did not approve of humor in advertising and more or less abandoned the campaign.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Force followed a convoluted path involving many corporate mergers. The last owner stopped producing the cereal in 1983. Both the cereal and Sunny Jim had greater success in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where Force cereal is still available and the box still features a picture of Sunny Jim.
Sunny Jim Peanut Butter
The brand of peanut butter known as Sunny Jim was manufactured in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
by the Pacific Standard Foods company. The company was founded by Germanus Wilhelm Firnstahl, who modelled the apple-cheeked character seen on the jars on his son, Lowell. During the 1950s the brand accounted for nearly a third of all peanut butter sold in the Seattle area. The company was sold in 1979 for $3 million to the Bristol Bay Native Corp. A large sign on the factory building made the "Sunny Jim building" on Airport Way South a familiar landmark to motorists passing on nearby Interstate 5. In 1997, there was a fire at the plant which destroyed the sign and a portion of the building. On September 20, 2010 a massive fire finished off the Sunny Jim plant as well as a vacant building on the factory site.
Other uses
- Nickname of James RolphJames RolphJames “Sunny Jim” Rolph, Jr. was an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931 until his death on June 2, 1934 at the height of the Great Depression...
(1869–1934), American politician.
- Sunny Jim FitzsimmonsSunny Jim FitzsimmonsJames Edward Fitzsimmons was a thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, Fitzsimmons began his career in 1885 working at a racetrack as a stable boy. After nearly ten less-than-successful years as a thoroughbred jockey, he became too heavy for that job and took...
(1874–1966) was a famous thoroughbred horse trainerHorse trainerIn horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
.
- Nickname of James MackayJames Mackay (cricketer)James Rainey Munro Mackay, better known as "Sunny Jim" Mackay, was an Australian cricketer. He was a right-handed opening batsman who was likened in his youth to Victor Trumper, and was considered unlucky to miss the 1905 Australian tour to England.Mackay was born in Armidale, New South Wales...
(1880–1953), Australian cricketer.
- James JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
(1882–1941), when young, was sometimes called "Sunny Jim" by family members. - Performing name of juvenile film actor "Sunny Jim McKeen"(born Lawrence David McKeen Jr.), sometimes billed only as "Sunny Jim" (1924-1933).
- Nickname of Jim BottomleyJim BottomleyJames Leroy Bottomley was born in Oglesby, Illinois and grew up in Nokomis, Illinois. Nicknamed "Sunny Jim" because of his cheerful disposition, he was a left-handed Major League Baseball player. He also served as player-manager for the St. Louis Browns in 1937.-Career:As a first baseman for the...
(1900–1959), American baseball player.
- James CallaghanJames CallaghanLeonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
, Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
from 1976 to 1979, was nicknamed 'Sunny Jim' for his optimistic forecasting to the public.
- By the 1920s, "Sunny Jim" had become a popular sobriquet for someone who is being grumpy.
- A character named Sunny Jim appears in the comic book series The Adventures of TintinThe Adventures of TintinThe Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
, making his debut in Tintin and the PicarosTintin and the PicarosTintin and the Picaros is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip graphic novels, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....
as the costume designer for the Jolly Follies.
- General Alexander A. VandegriftAlexander VandegriftAlexander Archer Vandegrift, KBE, CB was a General in the United States Marine Corps. He commanded the 1st Marine Division to victory in its first ground offensive of World War II — Battle of Guadalcanal. For his actions during the Solomon Islands campaign, he received the Medal of Honor...
, 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps, was known as "Sunny Jim," a nickname given to him by his mentor Smedley J. ButlerSmedley ButlerSmedley Darlington Butler was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S...
http://www.nps.gov/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003117-00/sec1.htm
- At the La Jolla CoveLa Jolla CoveLa Jolla Cove is a cove and a beach in La Jolla, San Diego, California. It is a very small beach within walking distance from the Children's Pool Beach and is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in Southern California...
beach in San Diego, California, there is a sea cave called "Sunny Jim Cave." When the cave is viewed from a certain angle, the opening of the cave bears a striking similarity to the cartoon character. The cave is accessible by swimming from the cove, but also is accessible from a neaby store that charges a nominal fee to walk down some in-store steps leading to the cave.
- Jed StoneJed StoneJohn Edward "Jed" Stone, played by Kenneth Cope, is a fictional character from the soap opera Coronation Street. He was a lodger of Minnie Caldwell's in the 1960s, and her nickname for him was "Sunny Jim"...
, a character on the UK soap opera Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, had a cat named "Sunny Jim".
- There is a British hero in DC Comics called Sunny Jim. He appears on Superman #689 and is depicted as a working class superhero.
External links
Seattle Times stories about Sunny Jim peanut butter (registration required):- Fire Destroys I-5 Landmark -- Warehouse That Housed Sunny Jim (Peanut Butter) Plant Burns
- Celeste F. Rogge, Who Inherited The Sunny Jim (Peanut Butter) Fortune, Dies At 84
- The Case for Sunny Jim: An Advertising Legend Revisited by Eileen Margerum, Sextant, the journal of Salem State CollegeSalem State CollegeSalem State University is a four-year public institution of higher learning located in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem State University, established in 1854 as Salem Normal School, is located approximately fifteen miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. Salem State enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and...
on Sunny Jim and Force cereal.