Why do they call them "Animal Crackers" when there not even crackers...they're cookies?

Answer 1

Over the past 100 years, 53 different animals have lived in the Barnum's Animal Cracker box. I remember them from th e1950's very well.
This is what happened: In 1889, Barnum decided to do something truly nutty, a tour of England with his circus. So after his buddy Bailey figured out how, exactly, you get a circus that normally takes up 10 rail cars onto a boat and across an ocean, Barnum's animals made their European debut.
The English, meanwhile, had already invented something called animal biscuits. Sensing a marketing moment, several companies started manufacturing animal biscuits with circus packaging and called them Barnum's. Soon the product migrated across the ocean, where Nabisco's forerunner, the National Biscuit Co., put them on U.S. store shelves in 1902. Originally called "Barnum's Animals,'' they became Barnum's "Animal Crackers'' in 1948.
There are many varieties of animal crackers/cookies available today. But they don't have the box.
The box, we love the box. The circus cages, the brightly painted animals, the old door you could pop out to make it a real "cage.''
Looking for a special Christmas promotion, National Biscuit executives came up with the idea of specially designed red and green boxes with a circus theme. Thinking the boxes would make fine Christmas tree ornaments, they added the little string, to make it easier to hang boxes on branches.
That little string was not there so we could carry the box around like a purse.
Of course, that's what people (OK, girls ) did with it anyway. Marbles, pennies, costume jewelry, rocks — all have been stuffed in a Barnum box at some point over the last century.
And would you believe what PETA says?
"We are glad that the cookies are vegan, but sad that they promote circus animal misery — if only they'd make whip, chain and bull-hook cookies to show kids the full story.''
So much for nostalgia.

Answer 2

Don't really know why but here's the only answer I could find that made "SOME" sense:

The product we know today as Animal Crackers came into being in 1902. In the late 1800s, ‘Animals’ (animal shaped fancy cookies) were imported from England. Many of the small, local bakeries in America made different versions called 'Animals' or 'Circus Crackers'.

Answer 3

Barnum And Bailey Animal Crackers

Answer 4

About 70 years ago there was a movie starring
Shirley Temple in which she sang a song " Animal Crackers in my soup. it might even have been longer than 70 yearsago. Question? When was the animal cracker cookie first marketed?

Answer 5

They were named after the Marx Brother's movie "Animal Crackers" because the creator was a big Groucho fan.

Answer 6

They are crackers...they're just thick thats y they seem like cookies

Answer 7

They are made the same way saltine crackers are made. With Layered Dough people!!! They are just made sweet! Saltines have salt on the outside. Animal Crackers have sugar on the inside.

Answer 8

No...they are crackers! They're just sweetened.

Answer 9

because they did originall start out as crackers

Answer 10

they are sweetened crackers