A Corny Conundrum: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or Post Toasties?

I have many antiques scattered around my place, including a vintage box of Post Toasties dating back to the early 1960s. That’s a photo of it above; it sits on top of my refrigerator. Hopefully there’s no 1960s vermin inside, waiting to get out.

Seeing the box, however, led me to pose this question to you, my readers: which corn flakes did your family prefer – Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or Post Toasties?

William K. Kellogg is credited with the idea of toasting flakes of corn for a breakfast cereal in 1894, while he was in the employ of his brother John Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The cereal became so popular there that William Kellogg launched the now famous company to sell Kellogg’s Corn Flakes to the general public.

Post Toasties, on the other hand, was a rival toasted corn flake cereal created by C. W. Post (who coincidentally had been a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium).

Courtesy Hakes.com

Through the decades, the two corn flakes battled it out in the cereal aisle.

Kellogg’s was unquestionably the leader in breakfast cereals. Over the years, the company marketed its hugely popular flagship product using a variety of tactics, including using an attractive “Sweetheart of the Corn” on the box and in ads, like the 1919 one below.

Even Hanna-Barbara cartoon stars like Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear were enlisted to promote the cereal in the late 50s and early 60s (when Kellogg’s was sponsoring their programs).

Meanwhile, Post was merely a division of General Foods. Consequently, its cereals did not have the advertising budget of Kellogg’s, and were not marketed as aggressively or successfully.

While Kellogg’s sponsored the Hanna-Barbara programs, Post threw its money behind The Bugs Bunny Show. (Within a few years, however, Post had its own cartoon menagerie, which I’ll discuss tomorrow.)

The Post Toasties cereal box seemed to be in a constant state of redesign. Post couldn’t decide whether the Toasties name was strong enough on its own, or if it was necessary to stress that they were corn flakes.

1950s design

1960s design

1970s design

But while very similar products, the two corn flake rivals were slightly different in taste, texture and shape, with the result that consumers might prefer one over the other.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes are light, crispy and somewhat fragile. They seem to break apart more easily than Post Toasties, which were thicker and more rounded on the edges.

Note that I spoke of Post Toasties in the past tense. Yes, the second oldest original Post Cereal (only Grape Nuts are older) was discontinued back in 2016.

So which did my family eat? We were more of a Kellogg’s or General Mills family than Post, so Kellogg’s Corn Flakes was probably one of the cereals Mom kept on hand for her and Dad. It wasn’t until decades later – when Dad was retired – that Post Toasties were the preferred corn flake in the Brady household.

Anyway, be sure to leave a comment as to which corn flake your family preferred, so I can draw some corny conclusions.

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Cereal continues to be a favorite topic on this blog, with past posts devoted to Rice Krispies and Sugar Crisp.