Since Dr. John Harvey Kellogg invented the first breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, manufacturers have realized that young children, and their mothers, make up their primary customer base. It was only natural for cereal manufacturers to look for ways to make their products more appealing to children so they would influence their mothers to buy more of that brand of cereal. Cereal makers tapped into something that children liked just as much as sugary cereal … toys.
Colorized photo of a 1930s boy enjoying his cereal. (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)
In this collection of colorized photographs, we will take a look at some of the more memorable prizes and premiums from cereal boxes of the 1910s to 1940s. From decoder rings to books, these cereal premiums were often the highlight of the breakfast table. How many of these do you remember?
Kellogg’s Quirky Changeable Book
The first cereal, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, was also the first cereal to offer a premium or prize. In 1912, Kellogg’s ran a nationwide promo. Every customer that purchased two boxes of Corn Flakes at the same time was given a children’s book by the store cashier. The freebie book was titled The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book. A quirky little book, it was designed with multiple flaps that could flip around to create several different stories from the same book. It was ingenious. And quite popular. In 1912 alone, the cereal company gave out two and a half million copies of the book. Kellogg’s continued this promotion for 28 years when the book was replaced with a glider airplane.
Shirley Temple’s Pitcher
Little Shirley Temple made a fortune in endorsement deals. In fact, she made more money by licensing her image on various products than any other celebrity of the time. Wheaties hopped on the Shirley Temple bandwagon by offering free giveaways featuring the pint-sized superstar’s face. With the purchase of two boxes of Wheaties, customers could get a piece of cobalt blue Depression-era glass, either a cereal bowl, a mug, or a small milk pitcher. Each piece bore the likeness of the curly-haired child.
Track Your Workouts with a Cereal Giveaway
The Hike-O-Meter pedometer. came with a treasure hunt. (hakes.com)
Cereal manufacturers often sponsored radio programs in the 1920s and 1930s. That gave them an opportunity to promote their products and giveaways on the radio and to use the show’s characters on promotional items. Such was the case with the Jack Armstrong Hike-o-Meter, an actual pedometer, that was part of a premium by Wheaties. Between 1933 and 1951, kids tuned in to the radio to hear the exploits of Jack Armstrong, an all-American teen who went on exciting adventures around the globe. The Jack Armstrong Hike-o-Meter was a small pedometer that was free to kids who mailed in Wheaties box tops. More than a million kids did that in the 1930s alone.
A Whistle in Every Box
A colorized photo of boys in the 1920s listening to the radio. (pinterest)
During the 1920s, Malt-O-Meal sponsored Steamboat Bill, a popular radio show. Early on in the show’s history, the title character would ask children to send in their favorite joke, but it must be written on a Malt-O-Meal box top. If the host read the joke on the air, that kid got a prize … a toy steamboat whistle. Eventually, the folks at Malt-O-Meal decided to be more inclusive with their giveaway. They put one of the small steamboat whistles right inside every box of Malt-O-Meal, so every child had an opportunity to own a Steamboat Bill whistle.
A Spy Ring
Actor Tom Mix in a colorized photo. (truewestmagazine.com)
Actor Tom Mix starred in more than a hundred movies between 1910 and 1935 and even had his own radio show from 1933 to 1950. In the 1940s, the Ralston Cereal company, the sponsor of the radio show, launched a giveaway. Kids could send in box tops from Ralston Cereal and receive a Tom Mix Look-Around Ring, a cool piece of spyware. The ring had two six-shooters on the top and small holes on the sides. Tiny mirrors were positioned inside the ring so when you looked in the holes, you could see items that were situated in your peripheral vision.
Little Orphan Annie’s Secret Society
A scene from "A Christmas Story" in which Ralphie uses his Little Orphan Annie secret decoder. (forbes.com)
Remember the iconic scene from A Christmas Story when young Ralphie finally gets his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring in the mail and could decode the secret message from the radio show? That was real. Starting in 1930, the Little Orphan Annie radio show, sponsored by Ovaltine, began broadcasting to kids around the country. By sending in box tops from Ovaltine, kids could become ‘members’ of Little Orphan Annie’s secret society and receive a badge, certificate, and decoder ring. And just like the scene in A Christmas Story, most of the messages that kids decoded were calls to action to drink more Ovaltine.
Ovaltine’s Plane Detector
The airplane detector from Ovaltine. (worthpoint.com)
Kids felt like they were aiding the war effort with the clever Ovaltine giveaway that was tied into the Captain Midnight radio show. The radio show followed the adventures of Captain Jim “Red” Albright, a former World War I flying ace code-named Captain Midnight. He was called back into action to fight the Nazis in World War II. Kids loved to follow his fictional exploits on the radio and hear about the espionage and sabotage of the second World War. As part of an Ovaltine giveaway, kids could get a Captain Midnight MJC-10 Plane Detector. This was basically a piece of cardboard with the silhouettes of Allied and Axis planes on it. Kids could use it to identify the planes they saw overhead and, theoretically, alert authorities if the enemy was invading U.S. soil.
