Low Sales Spell T-H-E E-N-D for Post Alpha-Bits

The final box design

Breakfast cereal is still a staple of many Americans' diets, although according to a recent poll, only about 12% of the public eat it every day.

I'm one of those people. And while nowadays I prefer the geezer cereals (such as Spoon Size Shredded Wheat), every once in a while I enjoy a bowl of the sugary stuff. I'm a kid at heart, you know.

But I recently discovered that one of my old favorites – Post Alpha-Bits – is no longer on the menu. 

A vintage box from the 1960s

How did I find out? In Lorain County, the only store that carried it was Marc's in Avon. But during a recent stop, I noticed it was no longer on the shelves. A trip to the Post website confirmed it was on the roll call of deep-sixed cereals.

As a Tweet from Post explained, "We are sorry to share that Alpha-Bits has been discontinued. Generally our products are discontinued due to lack of demand or to make room for the introduction of new products."

So Alpha-Bits joins another Post favorite – Post Toasties – on the extinct list. 

It may sound strange, but I have nostalgic feelings for Alpha-Bits. Back in 1966, I entered a coloring contest (which I wrote about here) featuring Lovable Truly, the cereal's goofy 'Postman' mascot that talked like Gomer Pyle. My siblings and I regularly watched The Linus the Lionhearted Show, which consisted of cartoons starring all the Post Cereal characters. And on this post, I explained how a commercial for Alpha-Bits was stuck in my brain for more than fifty years! 

Besides all that, Alpha-Bits was a good 'eating' cereal. The pieces were big enough to eat dry and not get all over the carpet. Oh well. 

As a replacement, at the store I picked up a box of Post Golden Crisp (originally known as Sugar Crisp). It's another good right-from-the-box cereal.

Plus I have to do my bit to keep Sugar Bear gainfully employed.