Remember watching TV shows in the 1960s that were sponsored by “Kellogg’s of Battle Creek?” Everyone in America knew the name of the city in Michigan where the cereal giant was located.
The Kellogg’s cereal plant was a major tourist destination for many years. Consequently, it ended up on postcards. Here’s an ample sample from through the years. (I’ve included some postmark dates.)
It’s interesting seeing how the plant evolved.
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| 1912 |
The visitor’s entrance became the focal point of the postcard beginning in the late 1950s.
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| 1959 |
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| 1961 |
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| 1965 |
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Being a cereal fanatic, I would have loved to have taken a tour of the Kellogg’s factory in Battle Creek, Michigan. But the public tours ended in the 1980s, out of concerns that trade secrets were being stolen.
I did visit Battle Creek with my younger brother in 1998, however, to visit the Kellogg’s Cereal City attraction located downtown. We made a side trip to drive around the huge Kellogg’s manufacturing plant, even though we couldn’t get inside. We also wanted to find and photograph the Tony the Tiger and son statue.
What we found was a little depressing. The former entrance to the plant – through which thousands of visitors streamed over the years, eager to see their favorite cereals being manufactured – was now an overgrown mess.
The statue of Tony the Tiger and Tony Jr. were still there on the grounds, but I had to photograph them through a chain link fence.
So what does the Kellogg’s plant and office complex look like today? Incredibly, most of the buildings shown in the vintage postcards are no more, except for some associated with production. The building where the visitor entrance was located was gone by the early 2000s.
The office building was the last to go. Here’s a vintage postcard of it.
And here’s a Google Maps view of it, off in the distance, circa 2012.
And finally, here’s a photo (courtesy of the Battle Creek Enquirer) of its demolition, along with neighboring Kellogg's buildings, in 2016.
Kellogg’s sponsored The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show and Quick Draw McGraw. So it’s not surprising that the Hanna Barbara cartoon menagerie was featured on postcards along with the Kellogg’s advertising mascots.
2 comments:
I remember The Beverly Hillbillies were sponsored by Kellogg's of Battle Creek.I bet any young boy wouldn't have minded to sit in grannies kitchen eating some Frosted Flakes with Elly May Clampett and a couple of her critters,or out in the cement pond with Ms. Jane Hathaway.
My family went on the tour sometime in the 1960s, but I can't remember exactly when (it was just one stop on trip somewhere else). I'm not sure we even have any photos from the visit (we'd take one roll of film per trip and when it was used up that was it). However, I do remember that after the tour, you ended up in a cafeteria where you could get a free dish of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with your favorite cereal as a topping!
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