AtDDtA: "Crackerjack!"

[Dave Monroe]

   "'Crackerjack!' exclaimed Chick." (AtD, Pt. I, Ch. 1, p. 8)


Main Entry: crack·er·jack
Pronunciation: 'kra-k&r-"jak
Variant(s): also crack·a·jack  /-k&-"jak/
Function: noun
Etymology: probably alteration of 3crack + jack (man)
: a person or thing of marked excellence
- crackerjack adjective

http://m-w.com/dictionary/crackerjack

"Crackerjack!" exclaimed Chick.

Cracker Jack, the food, was first sold at the Chicago Exhibition of
1893, though it did not bear its present name. As one word here,
however, it is not the candy: "Crackerjack" entered English first as a
noun referring to "a person or thing of marked excellence," then as an
adjective. The foodstuff gained its present name, according to the
official Cracker Jack website, in 1896. The OED lists the first
written use of "crackerjack" as 1895, two years after the present
scene. It is by no means impossible, however, that the term would have
been current in the spoken language in 1893.

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_1-25#Page_7

Brief History

http://www.crackerjack.com/history.php