Ruscha’s inspiration for "Crackers" comes from the musician and comedy-writer Mason Williams’ short story “How to Derive the Maximum Enjoyment from Crackers” (which appears on the inside back flap of the dust jacket). Ruscha used a sequence of black-and-white photographs to illustrate the story of a man making preparations for a date in a cheap hotel room. The man shops for salad ingredients, brings his date to a hotel room, and manages to coax her into a bed covered with lettuce. After a dramatic scene in which the man douses his date in oil and vinegar, he abandons her in the hotel room and is chauffeured home. The final image shows the man happily eating Premium Saltine Crackers in bed, alone – presumably deriving his own maximum enjoyment from the crackers.