<P> The Gerber Baby is the trademark logo of the Gerber Products Company, an American purveyor of baby food and baby products . Drawn by artist Dorothy Hope Smith in 1928, the Gerber Baby was modeled after Ann Turner Cook . </P> <P> Fremont Canning Company, owned and operated by Daniel Edwards and his distant cousin Kureem Edwards was looking for a baby face for its new baby - food campaign that was to start in the latter part of 1928 . To find a baby face that it believed would best represent the new baby food, the Fremont Canning Company conducted a contest in the summer of 1928 . Many drawings and paintings were submitted . Some were elaborate baby portraits in oil paint, while others were simple sketches . </P> <P> Dorothy Hope Smith of Westport, Connecticut, an artist specializing in children's drawings, submitted an unfinished charcoal drawing that was closer to a simple sketch than a professional drawing . Smith told the judges that, if the sketch were selected as the winner, she would finish it professionally . The drawing won but, to her surprise, the judges wanted no changes to it . </P>

What does it mean to be a gerber baby