And you can also make your own cereal box on the site.
Olde-tyme cereals that have gone to the Great Bowl in the Sky include a lot of newer ones that were released as a tie-in to a movie or TV show, like the Superman and Batman cereals I reviewed on this very blog. Others are brands are like Product 19, released to great fanfare and promoted for decades, but never quite as big as the food companies hoped.
Here are some weird, doomed cereals that are listed in the Project:
Indiana Jones Cereal (2008)
Millenios (1999) (yeah, really)
Donkey King (1982)
Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs (1976) (Ralston)
Freakies (1973) (clearly hippies invaded Ralston)
Corn Crackos (1967)
Tutti Frutti Twinkles (1965)
Concentrate (1959) (sounds painful)
Popeye Puffed Wheat (1949)
Ranger Joe (1939)
Heinz Rice Flakes (1930s) (Heinz made cereal!)
Elijah's Manna (1904) (caused an outrage)
Force (1901) (also sounds painful -- but its mascot was called Sunny Jim)
Granose Flakes (1895)
The history of American culture since the 19th century is echoed in its breakfast cereals.
I think every child born in the United States ate some kind of cereal growing up, even if his or her parents were policing the sugar or there were concerns about gluten or allergens. And since we tend to be nostalgic about the things of our youth, we can all enjoy the Cereal Project's brilliant year-by-year Cereal Timeline, where you can see what cereals were introduced the year you were born.
Of course, I was born the year that George Carlin (in cartoon form) appeared on a cereal box. Yes, I am referring to Bill & Ted's Excellent Cereal.
That's right, I'm 29. Again.
Childhood me was partial to Sugar Smacks and Cap'n Crunch. I think they're both still around. In the winter, my favorite hot cereal was something called Maypo. The ads featured an annoying cartoon kid named Marky Maypo (not to be confused with Marky Mark) who caterwauled "I want my Maypo!" Even as a kid I wanted to dump a bowl of the stuff on his head when I heard that!
ReplyDeleteI was never a big fan. Weird kid. I had it at times, but it was never a must have. Cheerios and Wheat Chex were my preferred. Cap'n Crunch was the only sugary one I kinda liked.
ReplyDeleteI remember Freakies, mainly because I had some of the little plastic toy characters that came in the boxes.
ReplyDeleteI do NOT remember Millenios. They should have had Y2K tie-ins, like "send in $5.95 with five box tops and get a real wind-up flashlight, no batteries needed", and tag lines like, "stays crunchy even during post-technological societal collapse".
Thanks for the thoughts, boys! FM, I don't recall Millenios either but if they'd been as smart as you about the premiums, it might still be around.
ReplyDelete