This Book is Grrreat!!

We have recently acquired The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch by Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis and have since been delighting in cereal nostalgia! Cereal was originally made with laxative properties, but turned towards marketing to children following WWII. Presweetened cereals made their appearance on television, with the help of cartoon characters and popular sitcoms, during the late 1940s through the 1960s. Health-conscious cereals made a return during the 1970s, and both types of cereals now live harmoniously on our grocery store shelves today.

We thought we would delight you with some fun cereal facts! While some of these had very interesting flavors, they unfortunately did not have a very long shelf life…

• Surprize – Created by Kellogg’s, this cereal hit the shelves in 1957, but the date in which it was taken off the shelves is unknown. It was known as the “first brown-rice flaked cereal” (168).

• Caramel Puffs – This cereal, created by General Mills, was supposed to be a variation of Cocoa Puffs with “caramel-flavored corn nuggets” (108). It was not well-received and lasted a year on the shelves from 1959-1960.

• Wackies – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1965 to 1966. It was composed of “frosted oats and banana-flavored marbits [marshmallow bits] in various shapes” (175).

• Cornados – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1966-1967. It was composed of “cone-shaped corn and rice” (110).

• Ooobopperoos – Created by Nabisco, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1972-1973. It was composed of “blueberry-flavored cereal” (212).

• Sir Grapefellow – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1972-1975. It was composed of “grape-flavored oat rings with sweet-grape starbits [star-shaped marshmallow bits]” (220).
• Crunchy Loggs – Created by Kellogg’s, this wood-themed cereal stayed on the shelves from 1978-1979. It was composed of “sweetened corn and oat logs” (195).

We saved the best for last!

Ad found in The Times-Dispatch on March 13, 1903

Ad found in The Scranton Tribune on September 8, 1902

Tryabita – Created by Tryabita Cereal Mills, this cereal hit the shelves in 1903, but the date in which it was taken off the shelves is unknown. It was the first (and possibly only) celery-flavored cereal.

Do you have a favorite cereal from your childhood? Or perhaps you have had the opportunity to try one of these unusually-flavored cereals? We'd love to know!

Gitlin, Marty and Topher Ellis. The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch. Abrams Image: New York, 2011. Print
The Times-Dispatch: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038615/1903-03-13/ed-1/seq-3.pdf
The Scranton Tribune: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1902-09-08/ed-1/seq-2/