Friday, April 17, 2009

Breakfast Cereals of the 70s and 80s


I love cereal. I think it is my favorite food. The best is Fruity Pebbles, by Post.
I loved this box so much, I put it up in my room when I was a little kid. I know, I was mental.

I remember when Purple Rain was out, there was a Fruity Pebbles commercial with Barney on a Purple Bike and outfit. pimping out the new grape flavor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opU8MDNadiQ&feature=PlayList&p=3C6C097332A573FC&index=10

Today we are going to view some specifically 80's breakfast cereals
and then we will take a look the way other popular cereal boxes used to look.
Remember these little boxes, below? They look a lot cooler and more alive these
days.


1980's Cereals

Here is Pac-Man cereal. It was kind of a knock off of Lucky Charms,
which I didn't like because I didn't like marshmallows. I did love Pac-Man though.
Who didn't? I was even Ms. Pac-Man for Halloween in third grade. Here is the commercial for the cereal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBUQX4G5oYQ

I kinda sorta remember this Nerds cereal. Again, I really appreciate the packaging on
these Willy Wonka products. They were pretty innovative.

Dude...Dinky Donuts. I don't think I was ever lucky
enough to eat these! But they were big in the 80s. They may or may not still
be around. I seem to recall some sort of faux powdering on a powdered doughnut version of these, that was mildly disturbing.

I couldn't find a close up of the box for Cabbage Patch Kids cereal.
My mom broke down and bought these one time and that was it!
I was a Cabbage Patch Kid freak, along with every other girl in the 80s.
Here is the commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3am26nA6m8

Donkey Kong cereal! Nice!

Cookie Crisp is still around, but this is what the box used to look
like. These little guys really tore up the roof of your mouth!
Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd_6dmCsBM4

Smurfberry Crunch was actually really good!

Other Vintage Cereal Boxes

Remember when Apple Jacks looked like this?


Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfNgtFL8VHw&feature=related




I was a big Cap'n Crunch Fan, but these Peanut Butter puffs
made me thirsty and were strangely greasy for a cereal.

Here is the original Cap'n Crunch in all of it's 80's glory.
These also left the roof of your mouth raw, but it was worth it.

Man oh man. Crunch Berries! These are my runner up behind
Fruity Pebbles. I developed a theory based on Crunch Berries: Crunch Berries were special because there was only one or maybe two berries in every bite, while there were tons of yellow squares. Then, Cap'n Crunch came out with an All Crunch Berries cereal (no yellow squares) and the berries weren't as...special. I apply that theory to anything of value that is suddenly mass produced or too readily available. I mean, what would happen if Christmas went on every day of the year? Keeping things very limited raises their value substantially! Okay, okay, so that is already a well known theory..I like the sound of the Crunch Berry Theory a lot better.
Moving on.


As I said, I hated Lucky Charms. I ate the oat pieces and left the marshmallows.
But I wanted to show the box for those of you who remember it looking like this.

We all liked these boxes, did we not? I never had a bite of
Boo-Berry or the two others below, but I liked the cartoon-y boxes.



Now pour yourself a bowl of cereal and watch This clip of Schoolhouse Rock!