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12 long-forgotten cereals of the 1950s
Who remembers the scary clown on the box of Sugar Smacks?
It was in the 1950s when breakfast cereals blossomed into the sweet children's treat we know today. It was the decade that sugar was introduced to our cereal, and the rest is history. Every brand was Sugar This and Sugar That. The Eisenhower Era also gave us iconic cereals like Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Puffs and Alpha-Bits.
Those ever-popular varieties steal the spotlight. Let's not forget these 12 cereals kids chowed down on in the 1950s.
What was your favorite cereal to eat for breakfast?
1. Sugar Smacks (1953)
Kellogg's Sugar Smacks had the distinctions of having the most sugar by weight of any cereal on the market when it debuted in the early 1950s. Fifty-six percent of the cereal was sugar, something that simply wouldn't fly today. Speaking of flying — George Reeves marketed the cereal back in the day.
Image: Tumblr
2. Sugar Rice Krinkles (1950s)
Because one terrifying clown wasn't enough, Post went ahead and hired another one to hawk Sugar Rice Krinkles.
Image: mom.me
3. Frosty O's (1959)
General Mills marketed this cereal as "goodness shaped like little frosted donuts." Sounds nutritious to us!
Image: Mr. Breakfast
4. OKs (1959)
Kellogg's created this cereal in 1959 to compete with the ever-popular Cheerios. We're not sure why the company chose a giant Scotsman named Big Otis to market the cereal to kids. In the 1960s, Yogi Bear took over.
Image: The Baby Boomer eMuseum
5. Heart of Oats (1959)
Not to be outdone by Kellogg's, Post released Heart of Oats to as another competitor to Cheerios. Post did one thing right by creating mascot Linus the Lionhearted to market its heart-shaped "Haaaart of Oats."
Image: YouTube
6. Corn Soya (mid 1950s)
Although the name doesn't sound too appetizing, Kellogg's came up with an interesting slogan for this one: "When mornings grow crisp, send 'em off to school feeling o-boya! Give 'em substantial Corn-Soya!"
Image: Mr. Breakfast
7. Sugar Jets (1953)
Capitalizing on the Space Age, General Mills rebranded its Sugar Smiles cereal to Sugar Jets (later just "Jets"). It looks like even Betty Crocker was a fan!
Image: Flickr
8. Corn-fetti (1951)
Before there were Frosted Flakes, there came Corn-fetti from Post. The cereal was the first sugar coated corn flake cereal on the market, but it wasn't that popular due to it being incredibly hard to eat.
Image: Mr. Breakfast
9. Wheat Honeys (1954)
This cereal started out as Ranger Joe Popped Wheat Honnies in the early 1940s. But when Nabisco got a hold of the cereal in 1954, it changed its name to make it more competitive in a crowded cereal market.
Image: Mr. Breakfast
10. Rice Honeys (1954)
Rice Honeys has a similar back-story to Wheat Honeys, but its story gets a little more bizarre. When sales started to sag, it was rebranded as "Winnie-The-Pooh Great Honey Crunchers" in 1971, and later to "Klondike Pete's Crunch Nuggets" a few years later. The move didn't work, as there are no Klondike Pete's currently your local grocery store shelves.
Image: Mr. Breakfast
11. Suprize (1957)
None of the big three cereal manufacturers made this one. The Battle Creek Food Company developed Suprize cereal along with cereal veteran Eugene McKay in 1957.
Image: Mr. Breakfast
12. Cubs (1957)
The shredded wheat cereal was introduced in 1957, despite having its name trademarked two decades earlier. Tarzan was the mascot, which begs the question: Why was the man from the jungle marketing a cereal named after bears?
Image: Mr. Breakfast
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George Vreeland Hill