Jack in the Box - Do It Jack's Way

A jack-in-the-box is traditionally a children's toy that consists of a box with a crank. When you turn the crank, the box plays a bit of music (often "Pop Goes the Weasel). At the end of the song, a character mounted on a spring pops from the top of the box, surprising the child playing with the toy. Normally, the character within the box is some type of clown, but jack-in-the-boxes have been made with any number of other figures, especially animals.

Jack in the Box is also the name of a popular fast food restaurant that was founded in San Diego, California in 1951. Today, there are over 2,000 locations in seventeen states, mainly in the West. The majority of the franchises are located in California. Jack in the Box offers a menu of American-style sandwiches including cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, and a variety of others, with new items entering the menu every few years.

The mascot for Jack in the Box is a clown-like character with a conical yellow hat, resembling the figure that pops out of the toy boxes. In 1980, the mascot was "blown up" in a television commercial, only to re-emerge in 1995 with an updated look.

In addition to being the name of a fast food restaurant, "Jack in the Box" is also the name of a character in the Astro City comic books created by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross. The Jack in the Box character is an expert hand-to-hand fighter and acrobat, and is extremely intelligent.