Hey, I realize this isn’t the most original blog topic and that it’s probably been done before and blah, blah, blah… however, taste is subjective. There’s a strong likelihood that you maybe grew up in a different era than I did which means you could have been exposed to a different breakfast experience than I was. Sure, there have always been the long-running staples (Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Cheerios, etc) but pop culture plays a very big part in what shows up on the breakfast tables of our childhoods. Sadly, many of these cereals no longer exist, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth remembering.
FREAKIES– I remember Freakies from when I was very young. It disappeared in 1976 (I would have only been six so it’s amazing that I still remember it.) It was light brown and I don’t remember a whole helluva lot about the taste but I do remember the characters on the box. The Freakies were creatures, seven in all, and each with a different color; Boss Moss, Cowmumble, Gargle, Goody-Goody, Grumble, Hamhose and Snorkeldorf. They lived in a Freaky tree or… something like that.
MR. T CEREAL– I pity the fool who don’t like my cereal. I remember the bright yellow box with a cartoon Mr. T on the front and not surprisingly it was a corn and oat cereal (alot like Cap’n Crunch) shaped like T’s. A box of these even showed up in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
Waffelos– These were good! I know they still make Waffle Crisp but there was something about the texture of these and that overwhelmingly strong sugary maple flavor. I miss Waffelos and the little cowboy dude that was on the box. Pretty sure they made them in blueberry too.
PAC-MAN, DONKEY KONG, ETC.- Video games were relatively new and quite a novelty in the late seventies and early eighties so they exploited them in any way they could. Pac Man and Donkey Kong were both cereals as well as Saturday Morning Cartoons. That’s right, you could eat a bowl of Pac Man cereal while watching the Pac Man cartoon… and neither of them was very good. Did we care? Nope! I believe there was even Donkey Kong Junior cereal as well.
QUISP– I used to eat a lot of Quisp. It had this great pink colored alien on that bright blue box. The cereal was basically crunchy saucer-shaped Cap’n Crunch. Aww heck! They ALL tasted like Cap’n Crunch!!
KABOOM– This stuff was extremely colorful. They used a lot of dye in these… it was evident in your poop. No Lie! Made up of smiley-face corn pieces and marshmallows shaped like stars it was pretty popular throughout the 70’s and 80’s.
Smurf Berry Crunch– This is another sweetened corn, oat and wheat cereal that was SO sugary and SO colorful, it almost gave you a migraine just looking at it. I remember being so hopped up on this stuff. My parents wouldn’t buy it for me because my mom considered it to be one of the most unhealthy cereals there was, so I had to use my own money and keep it in my room. That sugar high was well worth it.
There are plenty more that came and went over the years; Donutz, C3PO’s, Bill and Ted’s Cereal, Ghostbusters, etc. Of course, all of these hold a fond place in my heart because I ate them while I laid on my stomach in the living room, watching cartoons every Saturday morning. There was nothing better than a big bowl of Quisp while perched two feet in front of the television, watching Loony Toons at 7 am. Something about the combination of the sugar and the bright colors just makes that time seem magical. -Scotch
