The Cereal Box Bonanza series begins in the 1950's because that's when the cereal aisle as we know it today began. Presweetened cereals like Sugar Crisp, Frosted Flakes, and Cocoa Puffs were developed in the "Ike Era" as exciting alternatives to boring old Puffed Rice and oatmeal. To sell the new concoctions to kids, Disney-trained animators created cartoon pushers like Captain Jolly and Tony the Tiger who roared "They're GR-R-R-REAT!" in pitches televised right into our living rooms. Chanting war cries like "Sugar Pops are Tops!" and "Power up with Sugar Jets" boomers raced down to the supermarket to behold colorful, wide-eyed packages-the fruits of printing breakthroughs-and irresistable "Free Inside" bait until every one of us who had been on the planet less than 10 years was reduced to a whining, writhing, sticky-fingered knot of quibbering need. Sound familar?
Once at home, the appeal of cereal was more metaphysical than nutritional. When we sat down at the breakfast table with our favorite cereal hero, we entered into a kind of communion rite. Each spoonful of Lone Ranger Kix or Mary Hartline Sugar Smacks or Mr. Moonbird Jets lifted us out of the profane world of burnt toast, traffic reports, and unfinished homework, and into the sacred world of our choosen grain god. To the skull-shaking beat of crunch... crunch... crunch, we became our hero-dreaming about daring rescues, paying off Dad's mortgage, and other feats until the last slurp of bowl-bottom nectar signaled it was time to wipe the mouth on the sleeve and push off to school.
Full of sparkling food for the eye, this website celebrates the grain gods that once reigned over our boomer childhoods from Olympuses of Corn Pops and Rice Krinkles. May it kick cereal boxes upstairs to their rightful place in the pop pantheon, while knocking boomers back to our bygone cereal days with gasps of "God, I remember that!"
What cereal boxes to collect: Wheaties Cereal Boxes
