Sugar Crisp Ad – January 19, 1950

Breakfast cereal is one of my favorite topics on this blog. (I’ve written about Rice Krispies, Rice Krispies Marshmallow Treats, the Rice Krispies Song, General Mills Monster Cereals and Shreddies.)

So naturally, when I saw the ad above for Post Sugar Crisp – which ran in the Lorain Journal on January 19, 1950, 66 years ago today – I knew I had to feature it on the blog. (Another introductory ad that was in the Journal on Feb 9, 1950 is at right.)

Post Sugar Crisp was brand new back then, having been launched in 1949, and featured three bears on the package instead of the beloved Sugar Bear still seen on the Post Golden Crisp box today.

You didn’t know that there were originally three bears? Then read my article all about the history of Sugar Bear, which appears here courtesy of the HKM Grapevine.

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The Bear Facts About Sugar Bear

After more than 50 years, this bear still can’t get enough of that Sugar Crisp!

By Dan Brady

Some advertising mascots spring from the imagination fully formed and go on to promote a product for decades. Other mascots, like Post Cereals’ Sugar Bear, take a little longer to evolve. The story of Sugar Bear’s creation is an interesting one that bears repeating.

In 1949, Post launched one of the cereal industry’s very first pre-sweetened cereals, a sugarcoated wheat puff called Sugar Crisp. It was a spectacular success. Three identical cartoon bears named Dandy, Handy and Candy appeared on the first cereal packages. The bears were featured in magazine and newspaper ads in which the copy used their names to reinforce the cereal’s attributes: “As a cereal it’s dandy! For snacks it’s so handy. Or eat it like candy!”

The three bears created a sensation when they appeared as puppets in some stop action animated TV commercials for Sugar Crisp, convincing some of the rival cereal companies (like Kellogg’s) that they needed some animal pitchmen as well.

As you can see, the original cellophane bag in which Sugar Crisp was sold eventually gave way to a foil-lined box (below) that helped prevent the cereal from solidifying into a sugary brick.

A 1954 box

During the 1950s, the in-house Post creative team tinkered with the design of the bears on the cereal box. There were the original Betty Boop-like bears with large wide heads, as well as another version in which the bears were rounder and hairier. The bears on the cereal boxes seemed to alternate randomly between the two versions throughout the decade.

Eventually Bob Traverse, the commercial artist who worked on all of the Sugar Crisp boxes, got tired of creating layouts with three bears, and conspired to send two of them into permanent hibernation. He gradually reduced two of the bears to a secondary position on the box before eliminating them entirely.

For the next several years, he explored different layouts with the single “Betty Boop” style bear.

A 1963 box

Finally, Traverse and his art director decided to redesign the single bear to look less wimpy. 

The box in 1964

But this new, beady-eyed bear wasn’t quite Sugar Bear yet, even though he appeared in some TV commercials.

It wasn’t until this “new bear” was planned to part of the Linus the Lionhearted TV show that he received a makeover by the advertising agency and became Sugar Bear.

Linus the Lionhearted was a half-hour weekly cartoon that hit the airwaves in September 1964. It featured all of the Post Cereals ad mascots in their own animated adventures, including Linus, who was on Crispy Critters, an animal-shaped cereal; Lovable Truly the postman (from Alpha-Bits); So-Hi (from Rice Krinkles); Rory Raccoon (from Post Toasties); and Sugar Bear.

Sugar Bear was given the personality of a jive-talking disk jockey, as well as a Bing Crosby voice that was provided by nightclub comic Gerry Matthews. The unflappable bear became an immediate hit on the Linus the Lionhearted show, becoming more popular than Linus. 

A 1965 box

Unfortunately, while the show was a ratings success, the lagging sales of the Post cereals did not justify the show’s expense. It continued in syndicated reruns until 1969, when the Federal Communications Commission ruled that children’s programs could not feature characters based on products. This meant the end of the line for Linus the Lionhearted. A few years later, Linus and Crispy Critters were both extinct, but Sugar Crisp continued to be popular.

A box from 1969
(From the Dan Brady collection)

Sugar Bear continued his cereal commercials for decades as the last of the original Post cereal mascots. In the long-running spots, he outwitted characters including Granny Goodwitch, a kindly witch (voiced by Ruth Buzzi of Laugh-In fame), the Blob, a loose-limbed gangster, and a menagerie of bullying foxes, tigers and other animals. 

Sugar Bear enjoyed a brief recording career with the Sugar Bears.

Sugar Bear’s signature tune – “Can’t get enough of that Sugar Crisp” – had to be adjusted a few times: when the addition of extra vitamins changed the name of the cereal to Super Sugar Crisp, and when the name of the cereal was changed to the more nutritionally friendly Super Golden Crisp (strangely, the cereal is still known as Sugar Crisp in Canada).

More than 50 years after his introduction, Sugar Bear is still around. In one of his last TV commercials, he was seen hanging out at a breakfast table with live action husband-and-wife Baby Boomers, nostalgically cajoling them to try Golden Crisp again. He also received a makeover on the box when Post Cereals was spun off on its own.

The current box

Today, Golden Crisp is somewhat of a cereal anachronism, a leftover from a time when Post seriously challenged Kellogg’s and its other rivals. But although his beloved cereal is known now as Golden Crisp, Sugar Bear retains his own sweet moniker.

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Can’t get enough of that Sugar Crisp history? Check out this massive collection of vintage Sugar Crisp commercials featuring our old pal Sugar Bear! There’s one with the three original bears as well.

Snap, Crackle & Flop

Note my special Rice Krispies bowl – not used for anything else!

Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal has been a regular topic on this blog. I've been eating it all my life and even more often as an adult. But I've noticed that something's changed recently and it's enough to make Snap, Crackle and Pop go on strike.

So what's different? The cereal itself has no taste – no flavor. The cereal pieces themselves are lighter in taste and in color. They look almost bleached. It's like they're no longer even baked or cooked, because they've lost that light brown color. The cereal even sogs up quicker.

Compare the color of the cereal in my photo (from this weekend) at the top of this post, with the cereal in this photo from a 1965 Rice Krispies Marshmallow Treats ad.

For a direct comparison, here's what Rice Krispies Treats look like today. Note the stoned elfin trio. They're higher than a kite and unaware of the changes to their own cereal. They've got the munchies and are ready to attack that Treat that's as big as a Futon.

Worst of all – WORST of all – when you pour on the milk (oat milk in my case), the cereal no longer does its thing. The trademark 'snap, crackle and pop' is barely heard at all. It goes on faintly for about 2 or 3 seconds and that's it.

I'd write to Kellogg's to ask them what's going on, but they would probably ignore my letter like they did my last ones over the past few years. I kept finding hard bits of rice in my cereal – like gravel – and even collected samples from several boxes, packaged them in separated plastic bags labeled with lot, date, expiration, etc. and sent them to Kellogg's. I never heard back. ("Hey, it's another letter from that kook in Ohio!")

Anyways, judging from comments online, others have noticed it too. Someone who seemed knowledgeable said that Kellogg's is now using a different kind of rice. But all agree that the change is for the worse.

I guess Rice Krispies lovers are just up Battle Creek without a paddle.

"Gee, our cereal used to look golden brown and appetizing."

Snap, Crackle & Pop Culture

I was at Target on Oak Point Road a few weeks ago when I saw this special Retro Edition box of Kellogg's Rice Krispies. On it was a classic rendering of Snap, Crackle and Pop, looking exactly as they did in the 1960s and 70s.

Kellogg's obviously did their market research well, because I excitedly jammed the box of Rice Krispies into my shopping basket without thinking.

Why? Because seeing those friendly, familiar faces brought back happy memories of being a kid in the 60s and early 70s.

And of course, many of those memories revolved around cereal, because we were a cereal-eating family, especially my siblings and me.

We had cereal every day for breakfast before school, and some more when we got home from school. We also ate it as a snack before bedtime – sometimes polishing off a whole box between my brothers and me.

Cereal seemed to pervade all aspects of our lives.

We grew up watching both cartoons and prime-time shows that were "Brought to you by Kellogg's of Battle Creek!" I still hear that familiar musical tagline in my head: "K-E-Double L... O-Double Good, Kellogg's Best to You!"

Vintage box from my collection

We even took cereal along with us on our family camping trips. Mom used to pack a Kellogg's Variety Pack for breakfast at the campground. Predictably, my siblings and I used to argue over who got which cereal. There were always a few Rice Krispies in the pack, with one of the elfin trio grinning from the upper left corner of the box.

Everyone wanted the Sugar Frosted Flakes, but some had to settle for Rice Krispies.

It's probably a good metaphor for life in general.

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Despite the nostalgic feelings triggered by the retro box of Rice Krispies, I must confess that it was never my favorite cereal.

Rice Krispies was one – along with Nabisco Shredded Wheat – that was usually in the cupboard. I guess Mom bought them so that she and Dad had something to eat.

Of course, my siblings and I loved the sugary sweet cereals – Sugar Frosted Flakes, Cap'n Crunch, Frosty O's, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Post Crispy Critters, etc. And Mom – to her credit – bought whatever we wanted. (How many mothers do that anymore?)

We did eat unsweetened cereals too, such as Cheerios and Rice Krispies – as long as we could ladle on the sugar. I used to put so much sugar on my Cheerios that I'd have a half-inch of gritty sugar sludge on the bottom of my bowl, waiting to be dredged.

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But getting back to Snap, Crackle and Pop.

Although their cereal wasn't my favorite, I always did like them. They were so cheerful and friendly.

Their TV commercials were very subtle compared to those of other cereals. Snap, Crackle & Pop weren't trying to prevent others from obtaining their cereal (like Lucky the Leprechaun) or devising schemes to get some for themselves (like the Trix Rabbit.) They had no funny adventures (like Cap'n Crunch).

Quite simply, they just wanted you to try Rice Krispies.

For me, the strange thing about the 1960s commercials was the fact that Snap, Crackle & Pop looked different than how they did on the cereal box. On TV, they had a much more streamlined, simplified look.

Here's a classic commercial featuring the simpler, appealingly designed elves singing the well-remembered "Snap, Crackle and Pop Fugue."



The "Snap, Crackle and Pop Fugue" was written by N. B. Winkless, Jr., jingle writer, copywriter, and creative director of the Leo Burnett advertising agency's television group. Strangely enough, the song was modeled on the "Fugue for Tin Horns" from the musical Guys and Dolls.

The "new look" Snap, Crackle & Pop from TV slowly infiltrated print ads. Here's part of a 1973 magazine ad.

A portion of a 1973 magazine ad

Eventually, the simplified cartoon designs of Snap, Crackle & Pop pushed the old, realistically rendered designs off the front of the box.

Here's how they looked on the bottom of an early 1980's box (below).

Since then, Snap, Crackle & Pop seem to be redesigned about every couple of years. The current versions look so deranged and manic that it's almost hard to look at a box of Rice Krispies without getting annoyed.

Anyway, I bought a couple of the Retro Edition boxes, so I can visit some old pals – and revisit some memories – for a little while at least.

Wheat Honeys and Rice Honeys Ad – March 1956

Do you know the name of the very first pre-sweetened breakfast cereal?

Surprisingly, it wasn’t created by Kellogg’s, General Mills or Post. And you won’t find it on the cereal shelves at your local grocery store any more either. It’s long gone.

It’s generally accepted by cereal historians that the first one that was ‘pre-sugared’ was a regional product called Ranger Joe Wheat Honnies. It was a puffed wheat cereal, lacquered with honey and corn syrup. It was a big hit with kids and sales really took off in the 1940s.

You can read about its history here.

Post Cereals must have been paying attention, because it introduced its own sugar-coated puffed wheat cereal, Sugar Crisp, in 1949. (Click here to visit my posts on Sugar Crisp and all the Post Cereals.)

Meanwhile, Ranger Joe Wheat Honnies was sold to Nabisco, who renamed it slightly to Wheat Honeys and rolled it out nationally along with a sister product, Rice Honeys. 

Below is the introductory ad for both products that appeared in the Lorain Journal on March 1, 1956.

With both cereal variations being honey-flavored, naturally the cereal mascot was a bee. In this case, Buffalo Bee – since TV westerns were very popular at the time. For a while he even appeared in his own comic book.

Wheat Honeys eventually went through a few name and mascot changes before disappearing entirely, getting smacked down by Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks and Post Sugar Crisp. Today Nabisco is completely out of the breakfast cereal business.

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It’s funny, but one of my early 1960s memories was seeing Wheat Honeys on the pantry shelf at our house on W. 30th Street. I remember being intrigued by the pistol-packing bee dressed like a cowboy on the box.

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.

Kellogg’s Jumbo Assortment Ad – May 1969

Well, it’s finally Friday – the end of the work week. Time to limp home and relax.

But fifty years ago in May 1969, Friday in the Brady household meant one thing: Mom was going grocery shopping after dinner. And she was sure to bring home plenty (three or four boxes) of the sugary cereal my siblings and I craved. She would buy whatever we asked for – Cap’n Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes... How many mothers do that in 2019?

We would pretty much go through a box on Friday night at snack time, and then enjoy some more in the morning right before we settled down for the inevitable Saturday morning cartoons.

This large ad (which ran in the Journal on May 14, 1969) combines cereal and cartoons very nicely. It shows the gargantuan Kellogg’s Jumbo Assortment: 18 mini boxes of cereal including the dreaded adult ones (Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes) and the kiddie ones we liked.

Here’s a color photo of the Jumbo Assortment in the ad, courtesy of Hake’s.com.

Making a cameo appearance in the 1969 ad is Bingo, one of the Banana Splits – the costumed musical foursome who hosted their own show for Kellogg’s.  Each week the group (Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky) performed in what would now be considered music videos, as well as short slapstick comedy bits. They also showed a strange grab bag of cartoons, plus episodes of Danger Island, a live action adventure.

(I remember just tolerating cartoons like The Three Musketeers, waiting for the show to get back to the Banana Splits and their hijinks.)

Who doesn’t remember the Tra La La song, the theme song of the Banana Splits?

This YouTube sample includes the theme song again, plus some of the comedy bits, such as Fleegle getting the mail, Drooper taking out the trash, etc. That strange, caterpillar-like arm in the mail box always creeped me out!

The Banana Splits were also featured on many Kellogg’s cereal boxes, promoting various send-away offers, such as this printing set. (Hey – maybe this cereal box ad indirectly led me to go into the printing business as a career!)

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Cereal has long been a favorite topic on this blog. I also did a post on the Rice Krispies song, whose songwriter – N. B. Winkless, Jr. – also wrote the Tra La La song).

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Hey, how about a look back at the introductory commercial to Kellogg's Puffa Puffa Rice? I remember this commercial well, especially with that grass-skirted Hawaiian cutie in there. I wonder if Kellogg’s was aiming this cereal at men, as a sort of Polynesian fantasy breakfast?

A Quiet End for Quisp Cereal

Back in the 1960s when kids ate a lot of breakfast cereal, Quaker Oats made it fun by introducing two new cereals with mascots that were constantly feuding: Quisp and Quake.

Quisp was a pink space alien with a propeller on his head from the planet Q. Quake was a super hero type with a miner's helmet who lived in the center of the earth. Commercials featured funny situations in which they battled it out, attempting to prove their cereal was better. Kids could choose which one they preferred – Quaker Oats would win either way.

Here's the very first commercial, from 1965, along with an ample sample of other early ones.

Quaker already had been enjoying great success with its Cap'n Crunch cereal, with character designs and commercials from Jay Ward Studios – the same creative team behind Rocky and Bullwinkle. So it made sense to put the same team to work to launch even more cereals. 

Mom bought both cereals in our house. I remember liking Quake a little better – both the character and the cereal, which was somewhat similar to Cap'n Crunch. 

Anyways, the commercials went on for several years before it became apparent that kids preferred Quisp. An attempt to redesign and 'soften' Quake, turning him into sort of an Australian cowboy superhero with a 'quangaroo' sidekick, ultimately didn't work. Kids voted, and Quake cereal went into retirement.

But Quisp continued on right into the 1980s without his nemesis, in 'quazy' defiance of all marketing reason. 

Quisp was eventually officially relaunched to much nostalgic fanfare, with updated box graphics and its own website where you could order it. 

New promotional items were created, including a watch that you could send away for (I did).

Eventually, the hoopla died down and the website was grounded. But for years, you could still buy Quisp at all Marc's stores. I bought a box every so often.

That is, until last year at some point, when Quisp disappeared from Marc's store shelves.

Fearing the worst, I recently contacted PepsiCo, the current owner of Quaker Oats brands. Unfortunately, they confirmed my suspicions. They wrote, "Thank you for contacting us. We're sorry that Quisp has been discontinued. We know many of our fans, like you, have favorites, and it can be disappointing to see a favorite disappear from store shelves. Since retail shelf space is limited, some products can only be offered on a rotating basis. I will share your request with our Sales and Marketing Teams as they may consider bringing this back."

Thus PepsiCo accomplished what Quake could not.

It's pretty amazing that Quisp lasted this long despite the fact it had no advertising at all. But like Donald Duck Orange Juice, Quisp's disappearance from the store shelves is a solemn reminder that time marches on, corporations make their marketing decisions based on customer demand, and nothing lasts forever – except in our memories. 

An original Quisp 'playmate' from the 1960s

An original Quisp bank from the 1960s

Back panel from an in-box comic book

Stars & Stripes Forever – in My Brain

Little did John Philip Sousa know that his iconic
“The Stars and Stripes Forever” would be used to sell cereal

Over the recent July 4th holiday, a chance encounter with a John Philip Sousa march on TV reminded me just how deeply our memories are linked with television.

The tune was “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” and during one part of it, I found myself mouthing lyrics that included the words, “...and all sorts of craa-zy shaaaapes.”

“Where did that come from?” I wondered. I knew it was some old TV commercial that I had seen as a kid but I had no idea what product it was. But it showed how savvy the advertising agency was that produced the commercial, because it was still stuck in my subconscious a half-century later thanks to the iconic music.

I knew this was going to bug me until I figured it out.

I had a hunch that it might have been cereal. What other product came in a bunch of different shapes? And I was also guessing that there were other people out there who remembered the commercial as well.

It didn’t take too much Googling to find out what product it was.

On the “Memorable advertising jingles for defunct products” on the Straight Dope Message Board, I found my answer: Post Alpha Bits!

The whole ‘crazy shapes’ thing was part of a temporary promotion in the mid-1960s during which pieces of cereal shaped like stars, planes, etc. were mixed in with the usual letter-shaped Alpha Bits pieces. It’s a strange idea that would seem to dilute the special quality of the brand – so maybe that’s why the gimmick didn’t last. (The cereal is still around, however.)

Courtesy TheImaginaryWorld.com

Anyway, there were a couple Alpha Bits commercials with the “Stars & Stripes Forever” music during the promotion, so it’s not surprising that it was imprinted on my brain. You can see them (and possibly get it stuck in YOUR head) in this YouTube collection of POST cereal commercials. There’s also one for the V-RROOM engine cartoon contest that I wrote about here.

I probably have dozens of other obscure cereal commercials rattling around in my brain (such as the one for the Quaker Puffed Cereals that used the 1812 Overture as background music). But it’s nice to know that I’m not ‘crazy’ when it comes to remembering this one.

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To hear “The Stars & Stripes Forever” in all its glory and learn the story behind it too, visit this link on the Marines website. Or, play it on YouTube below.

Introducing Kellogg's Sugar Smacks Cereal – Nov. 1953

November 5, 1953 Lorain Journal ad

Yesterday we were talking coffee. Today – it's cereal.

When it comes to a sweetened wheat puff cereal, did your mom buy Post Sugar Crisp or Kellogg's Sugar Smacks? They're basically the same cereal; Post was there first, with Sugar Crisp (here's the 1950 Lorain Journal ad) and Kellogg's launched their version a few years later.

And above is the ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on November 5, 1953 breaking the news of the new cereal. That's famed Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey circus clown Paul Jung in the ad and on the box.

Another ad ran in the Journal a few weeks later on November 19, 1953.

Here's an oversized box that was part of a store display. It's currently on eBay.

I'm not sure why Kellogg's utilized the circus theme. Fellow clown Lou Jacobs was featured on boxes as well. It made for a fun and memorable visual theme. 

(It's kind of sad that a campaign like this would never fly today. For decades, clowns were seen as lovable childrens' friends. But in the last 20 or 30 years, clowns have become the very symbol of evil and terror, thanks to various horror movies.)

Anyway, when it comes to Sugar Smacks vs Sugar Crisp, I think Mom was in the Kellogg's camp. While I'm too young to remember any clowns on Sugar Smacks packages, I do remember when Hanna-Barbera's Quick Draw McGraw was on the  box (and Snagglepuss was on Cocoa Krispies).

However, after the members of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon menagerie were no longer featured on the boxes, I think we lost interest in many of the cereals – Sugar Smacks for sure. My siblings and I much preferred the Cap'n Crunch lineup from Quaker Oats, General Mills' Cocoa Puffs, etc. Mom did buy a few Post Cereals (mainly Crispy Critters and Alpha Bits).

Today, I almost always have a box of Sugar Crisp Golden Crisp in the pantry. But if Kellogg's put Quick Draw back on the Sugar Smacks Honey Smacks box, I'd give it a try again. But not while the unapppealing Dig'em Frog is on there!

I mean, frogs eat flies. Ugh.