Millions of people across the globe wake up each morning to brighten their day with a delicious bowl of crunchy flakes or chewy oats with milk. Cereal is an American breakfast favorite, a fact made clear through television ads, commercial jingles, and the wide variety of textures, shapes, and flavors it comes in, even necessitating a designated aisle at the grocery store.

We’ve all grown up to Tony the Tiger’s growls of how Frosted Flakes are “G-R-R-REAT” and have been told of the “magically delicious” power of Lucky Charms since youth. But few go as far as to look into how some of these popular cereals were created or by what manner they came to land on our breakfast tables in the morning . . . until now. Here are ten cereals with strange and interesting backstories to interest the curious mind.

10 Corn Flakes

In 1894, after the introduction of granola, John Harvey Kellogg, a physician who worked in a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, decided to experiment with a new form of cereal. Kellogg felt that his patients were suffering due to their overconsumption of meat at breakfast time, and being a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, he sought to apply the church’s idea of a vegetarian-based diet toward his patients. An additional belief by the Adventists at the time was that engaging in the practice of masturbation would cause people to experience symptoms of illness or worsen sicknesses they may already have.

Kellogg reasoned that the overconsumption of “irritant” foods such as meat products was causing an increase in sexual desire and that a bland, grain-based diet that was easier to digest would suppress these urges, as well as cure their gastric symptoms.^[1] At one point, Kellogg was boiling some wheat with the intention of making bread and accidentally left it out for a few hours. Due to costs, he decided to put it through the rolling process anyway and was surprised to see that the wheat rolled out into flakes. Upon toasting them and introducing them to patients, they were a smash hit. Thus, Corn Flakes were born.

9 Wheaties

Another popular cereal that was also “discovered” by accident is none other than Wheaties. In 1921, a clinician at a sanitarium accidentally spilled some wheat gruel onto a stovetop while cooking. The mixture dried into flakes and attracted the interest of the Washburn Crosby Company. Inspired by the preparation process of Corn Flakes, George Cormack (the head miller) and the other employees tried 14 times with 36 different varieties of wheat to find the perfect combination of wheat, salt, sugar, and malt syrup.^[2]

Their final product was called “Washburn’s Gold Medal Wheat Flakes,” which was later changed to just “Wheaties.” The cereal became popular due to their unique method of advertising, which was the first-ever radio commercial jingle. Later on, in 1928, the Washburn Crosby company would combine with three other nearby wheat mills to form the company we know as General Mills.

8 Rice Krispies

The story of Rice Krispies began in 1901, when a botanist named Alexander Pierre Anderson took an interest in what might happen when starch granules were brought to high heat. He theorized that the water inside the granules would turn to steam and result in small explosions, puffing up the starch. Upon experimentation, he was proven to be correct. Seeing potential in his discovery, Anderson then used a gas pipe and a sledgehammer to form a gun-like device that would simplify this process.^[3]

After he demonstrated this to great success at the 1904 World’s Fair, the Quaker Oats company took much interest in Anderson’s concept. The company packaged and sold the puffed rice granules the machine produced as a cereal product. Part of its commercial success can be attributed to the puffed rice being marketed as “food shot from guns.” Later on, Kellogg’s would adapt this rice-puffing technology to form their own version, Rice Krispies.

7 Shredded Wheat

Henry Perky, an avid fan of grains, got the idea for Shredded Wheat in 1890 after noticing a diner in a hotel that he was staying at blending wheat with cream. The man was suffering from gastrointestinal issues. Inspired, Perky brought this idea to his companion, inventor William Henry Ford, and together they developed a machine that pressed wheat into strips, which were then webbed and woven into pillow-like biscuits. Interestingly enough, Perky chose to aim his product at vegetarian restaurants, which felt the biscuits would be effective as soup croutons.^[4]

Cereal manufacturer John Harvey Kellogg admired Perky’s process but disliked the taste of his product and therefore declined to purchase the patent when offered. His loss! Perky went on to build a factory in Niagara Falls and form the Natural Foods Company, which soon became the Shredded Wheat Company, later to become part of Nabisco.

6 Cheerios

After the invention of Puffed Rice, Puffed Wheat, and soon after, Kix, puffed cereals were becoming all the rage in the late 1930s and early 1940s. General Mills wanted to experiment with an oat-based puffed cereal. General Mills food science innovator Lester Borchardt gathered a team to test the oat-based recipe and to develop tools that cut the mixture into a variety of different shapes. They tested over 500 formulas as well as tons of shape options, including “a sphere, a six-pointed star, a five-pointed star, a four-pointed star, a three-pointed star, a thin-walled doughnut, a thick-walled doughnut, a dumbbell, a spiral, and a square.”^[5] The winner was the doughnut shape, known as a torus, as it fit best into packaging.

General Mills perfected and finally launched the cereal in 1941, as “CheeriOats.” However, this name was short-lived, as the Quaker Oats company quickly filed a lawsuit complaining of infringement on the use of the term “oats.” The cereal was re-released in 1945 as “Cheerios” and has been a top-selling cereal in the United States ever since.

5 Chex

Chex was pioneered by a company known as Ralston Purina. It initially began as a pet food company headed by a man named William Danforth. Danforth soon partnered up with a self-help author named Webster Edgerly, who was looking to promote the consumption of whole grains. Edgerly was the founder of a very strict, almost cultlike social movement at the time known as Ralstonism, which, other than the promotion of a proper diet, held strange and absurd beliefs that delved into topics such as mind control and racial supremacy. Engerly advocated for the castration of all nonwhite individuals and also believed that watermelons were toxic to Caucasians. There were very specific routines and practices that followers were to obey, and since diet was such a major component of this system of belief, Edgerly wanted to create a unique whole-grain source designed for his followers.

Together, Danforth and Edgerly produced Shredded Ralston, a cereal made of small, bite-size squares of shredded wheat. After great success, the name of the cereal was changed in 1950 to Chex, to reflect Ralston Purina’s checkerboard logo.^[6] Later, the company split, and while Danforth continued to produce pet food under the name Purina, Chex was sold to General Mills, which has produced it ever since.

4 Alpha-Bits

Alpha-Bits is particularly interesting in terms of its history, as there is some debate as to how the idea was originally conceived. The main story that is told is that in the 1950s, a worker for Post Cereals named Thomas Quigley was inspired after being challenged to design a new cereal to market to kids. Being a father of seven, he had a good understanding of what children liked and felt that making the cereal in the shape of letters would provide a fun and educational breakfast experience.^[7]

However, alternative sources credit the creation of the cereal to then-head of product development Al Clausi. Being an Italian American, he was intrigued by the various shapes that pasta was produced in. He proposed the idea to run the cereal mixture through a machine designed to cut macaroni and then puff it afterward. The executives loved it, and Alpha-Bits were born.

3 Lucky Charms

In 1964, General Mills management issued a challenge to all employees to create a unique cereal using the same manufacturing technology from their two best-selling cereals at the time: Cheerios and Wheaties. Product developer John Holahan was struck with inspiration upon his next trip to the grocery store. He decided to chop up pieces of marshmallow circus peanuts and mix them in with Cheerios. Not only did the executives love it, but given that it was the 1960s, their marketing team thought to take advantage of the popularity of charm bracelets among kids and teens.

The marshmallows, known as “marbits,”originally came as pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. When the cereal didn’t take off as planned, the Cheerio shape of the oat pieces were changed to bells, fish, arrowheads, clovers, and crosses and were also sugar-coated.^[8] Since then, Lucky Charms has been an institution, with the “oat cereal and marshmallows” concept being the inspiration for many cereals down the line, such as General Mills’s “Monster Cereals” and various media-themed spin-offs.

2 Honey Bunches Of Oats

Honey Bunches of Oats debuted in 1989, after long-serving Post employee Vernon J. Herzing had the idea for a new cereal concept. Given his appreciation for Post’s three major flake-based cereals: Toasties, Grape-Nuts Flakes, and Sugar Sparkle Flakes, Herzing wondered as to how it would taste if he were to combine the three. He recruited his daughter Kimberly, and the two of them set out to mix and sample a myriad of different cereal combinations to find the best-tasting one. Herzing’s goal was to find one that made his daughter smile.^[9] They found that adding clusters of granola added textural balance as well as a satisfying crunch.

When they brought their idea to Post executives, it was a hit. However, they were unsure what to call the cereal. Initially, they thought to call it “Battle Creek Cereal,” but while the public loved the concept of a mixed blend of cereal, they weren’t such a fan of the name. The brand manager for Post at the time, Eva Page, sampled it and said, “The cereal is exactly what it looks like, granola and flakes.” She took another bite and then asked, “To make it more exciting, can you put honey in the granola? And the granola is made with oats, right? So,” said Eva, “the concept is Honey Bunches of Oats and Flakes.”

As requested, honey was added to the granola, and the cereal was released in 1989, becoming the first of the combination flake-and-cluster cereals that we find today. Its success would inspire spin-offs from other cereal brands that included the addition of granola clusters, such as Cheerios Hearty Oat Crunch or Shreddies Granola Almond Crunch.

1 Cap’n Crunch

In the 1960s, cereal was primarily being marketed to kids, with some of the best-selling cereals being those with lots of sugar. After Post brought forth Kix, the first puffed corn cereal, surveys were showing that kids preferred cereal that would float and stay crunchy, versus cereal that would get soggy quickly. Quaker produced a new recipe that was a combination of corn and oat cereal, which was formed into small, yellow squares.

The key to the cereal, however, came with the help of flavorist Pamela Low. Low was inspired by a recipe that her grandmother used to serve her as a child: a brown sugar and butter sauce over rice.^[10] She worked to recreate the recipe and then adapted it into what would become the coating for the new Quaker cereal. Low felt gave it a unique degree of what she described as “want-more-ishness.” This cereal was also one of the first to use oil in its coating, which required Quaker to innovate a unique baking process for production.

Quaker’s marketing chair teamed up with noted animator Jay Ward to create “Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch” (or just Cap’n Crunch, for short), a seafaring mascot he felt would further draw in kids while promoting the crunch factor of the cereal. Upon its launch in 1963, the cereal was a hit, becoming the second-best-selling cereal that year behind Frosted Flakes.

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Walk down any breakfast cereal aisle in the United States, and you will find a plethora of options. There are often dozens of selections, each with variations on flavor and type.

Sadly, some cereals that many enjoyed in childhood no longer exist. Whether it’s due to the public’s changing taste, a loss of license, or some other reason, some have simply vanished.

These ten kinds of cereal were once incredibly popular, but for whatever reason, you can’t find them anymore.

10 Weird Facts About Cereal

10 Mr. T

Back in the 1980s, you couldn’t go long without seeing something related to Laurence Tureaud’s popular character, Mr. T. The guy was everywhere, thanks to his popularity on The A-Team and Rocky III. To market off his popularity, Quaker Oats created a cereal that was simply called Mr. T.

The cereal was made with sweetened corn and oats, which were extruded into the shape of the capital letter “T.” It tasted a lot like Cap’n Crunch, which is also owned by Quaker Oats. The cereal debuted in 1984, and before long, it invaded popular culture.

Mr. T cereal made an appearance in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Pee-Wee Herman poured himself a bowl, saying, “I pity the poor fool that don’t eat my cereal.” The cereal had an additional catchphrase that was popular: “Team up with Mr. T (cereal); it’s cool.”

It appeared in various television shows and films throughout the decade, but it was ultimately discontinued in 1993. The reason Quaker Oats pulled it off the shelves was never disclosed, though it was likely due to the waning popularity of Mr. T in popular culture.

9 Hidden Treasures

General Mills released Hidden Treasures in 1993 alongside Springle Spangles, which has also been discontinued. Hidden Treasures were made of sweetened corn squares that all looked the same. The gimmick revolved around a filling made of icing that was flavored with cherry, grape, and orange.

While every square looked the same, some were filled with the icing. Kids would continue eating the cereal, and once they found a piece of hidden treasure, they wanted to keep eating. Hidden Treasures was marketed with the tagline, “The taste that’s full of surprises!”

This was a cereal that didn’t sit around for very long, but plenty of kids enjoyed it while it was available. General Mills stopped making Hidden Treasures in 1995, only two years after it was introduced. This meant that plenty of people missed out on it, while the few who didn’t tend to remember it fondly.

The cereal was around for such a short time; only two commercials were made. They included a temporary mascot, which was a robot named H.T. He was meant to be able to figure out which of the squares contained the so-called Hidden Treasure.

8 C-3PO’s

One year after Return of the Jedi was released in theaters, Kellogg’s introduced C-3PO’s to the masses. The cereal consisted of honey-sweetened oats, wheat, and corn extruded into the shape of the number eight. It tasted a lot like Alpha-Bits cereal but was said to have twice the crunch.

C3PO’s were incredibly popular among Star Wars fans who (correctly) believed there wouldn’t be any new content coming from the franchise for a long time. Fortunately, a commercial aired in 1984, and fans found that they could enjoy a newly licensed cereal featuring everyone’s favorite Protocol Droid.

The cereal came with a ton of marketing, including standees of C-3PO and other familiar markings. The box featured trading cards, cutout masks, or a plastic Rebel Rocket. There was also a send-away offer for a Kenner Star Wars action figure.

Unfortunately, Kellog’s stopped producing the cereal in 1986, only two years after introducing it. The boxes have become highly collectible, as have the individual small, single-serving packages Kellog’s released alongside the full box version. Even a flattened box without any (stale) cereal will cost around $75 or more on eBay.

7 Fruit-Shaped Trix & Mini Trix

Before 1991, Trix cereal came in the form of small fruit-flavored puffs, but that year, General Mills introduced something different. Instead of the familiar puffs, Trix was reformed into various fruit shapes related to each piece’s particular flavor.

Those shapes remained for years, but in 2006, General Mills reverted back to their original shapes. Fans of the cereal weren’t happy about this, and the company received thousands of requests to go back to the way it was. Fortunately, General Mills relented, and in 2018, the company announced that it would be bringing back the fruit-shaped version.

While you will be able to enjoy that version of the cereal once again, there is one that has gone away, seemingly for good. Mini Trix was introduced in 2015, and the name perfectly describes what they were: a much smaller version of the familiar puff-shaped Trix cereal.

Mini Trix were released as a limited edition. Like any variation to the popular cereal, they were enjoyed by the fans. Unfortunately, Mini Trix were indeed a limited edition. Once all the boxes were sold, they were discontinued and haven’t returned since.

6 Fruity Marshmallow Krispies

Rice Krispies have been around since 1928, and by 1939, the public became familiar with marshmallow Rice Krispies treats. These days, the recipe is on the box, and most people have enjoyed the combination of marshmallow and Rice Krispies at least once in their lives. They are insanely popular, so Kellogg’s released a cereal version in 1982.

Marshmallow Krispies managed to cut out all the work in making Rice Krispies Treats by putting them right into your bowl. Or, at least, it had many of the components. The familiar cereal was there alongside unflavored marshmallow bits. When milk was added, it tasted pretty much like the popular treats.

In 1987, Kellogg’s followed up with Fruity Marshmallow Krispies, which included orange, lemon, grape, and raspberry marshmallow pieces. The cereal remained popular throughout the early 1990s, but over time, its popularity waned.

By the mid-late 1990s, Kellogg’s stopped producing the cereal and ultimately discontinued it. While you can’t get Fruity Marshmallow Krispies any longer, you can still get Marshmallow Krispies cereal, though it’s now called Rice Krispies Treats Cereal.

5 Pac-Man

Believe it or not, Pac-Man is the highest-grossing video game of all time, and yes, that’s from counting quarters! The game’s popularity led to the development of a multimedia franchise, including comic books, numerous games, cartoons, and a breakfast cereal that was released in 1983.

At the time, Pac-Man had been out for three years, and the little yellow character was pretty much everywhere. The cereal consisted of “crunchy sweetened corn cereal with marshmallow bits,” which came in the shape of the eponymous character as well as the game’s ghosts, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.

Eventually, the cereal was upgraded following the release of Ms. Pac-Man. A new marshmallow was introduced with “a shocking pink bow” to honor Pac-Man’s main squeeze. It also included Super Pac-Man marshmallows, which were larger than the original ones.

Pac-Man cereal remained on store shelves until 1988 and was discontinued due to the character’s waning popularity. The same fate befell Donkey Kong Crunch, which was available from 1982 until 1984. That cereal featured barrel-shaped crunchy corn pieces and was similarly popular while it was sold.

4 Nerds

In 1985, Ralston introduced a cereal based on the popular Nerds candy with the tagline, “Which side are you gonna eat first?” Like the candy, Nerds cereal was split down the middle into two separate flavors. The duel varieties offered included orange/cherry and strawberry/grape and was described as “tiny, tangy, crunchy sweetened cereal.”

Kids especially loved the cereal because many boxes included small boxes of Nerds candy. They also featured a send-away offer for a “Two-Sided Nerds Bowl” and a “Nerd Gate.” These items were featured in commercials and made it possible to block the flow of milk from one side of the bowl to the other.

The cereal pieces looked a lot like the candies they were based on, but there were some issues. Because of the size of the pieces, they got mushy quickly. Additionally, the flavors often resulted in a somewhat sour-tasting mush. Despite these problems, the cereal had plenty of fans.

Nerds cereal remained popular for a few years, but Ralston discontinued it towards the end of the decade. Boxes sometimes turn up on eBay, where they sell for far more than they did when they sat on store shelves.

3 S’mores Grahams

General Mills released S’mores Grahams in 1982 to capitalize on the growing popularity of the campfire treat. The cereal was similar to Golden Grahams but included a blend of chocolate. It contained chocolate graham cracker pieces and tiny marshmallows that were the same as the kind found in packets of powdered hot chocolate.

The cereal came with a new mascot called the S’morecerer, who would help children get a bowl. This was usually accomplished by whisking the kids away from some sort of calamity, including getting chased by a lion. The kids would be happy… at first, but one would always ask, “Can I have s’more?”

The cereal managed to hit the mark in delivering a similar taste to actual S’mores. They remained on store shelves until 1988. Demand for their return saw that happen in the late 1990s, but it didn’t stay for long and was discontinued soon after.

While General Mills called it quits on making S’mores Grahams cereal, other companies haven’t. Kellogg’s introduced a similar version in 2003 called Smorz and kept it around until 2013. It also came back a few years later but was similarly discontinued in 2019.

2 Powdered Donutz

If you ever wanted to combine donuts with a bowl of breakfast cereal, all you had to do was buy a box of Powdered Donutz. The cereal was released by General Mills in 1980, and while they looked just like puffier powdered Cheerios, they were far sweeter.

It was described as a “cereal that looks and tastes like real donuts!” They weren’t the healthiest thing a kid could eat, but they were certainly popular among kids whose parents bought them. Eventually, General Mills released a chocolate flavor version, though it wasn’t as popular as the original.

Powdered Donutz managed to stick around for nearly a decade, but by 1989, General Mills called it quits on the brand. They haven’t returned, but General Mills didn’t entirely abandon the concept. Just six years after pulling Powdered Donutz from the shelves, the company introduced Frosted Cheerios.

Frosted Cheerios are similar to its predecessor, though they pack far less sugar than the originals. Of course, you can still buy a box of Frosted Cheerios, so if you throw a ton of sugar on top, you might be able to relive the glory days of Powdered Donutz cereal.

1 Nintendo Cereal System

When Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System, it helped save the video game industry. From the moment it was released, it dominated the market, and the company wasn’t about to stop with just video games. Nintendo marketed its various characters in every niche market available, including cereal.

Ralston introduced the Nintendo Cereal System in 1988 alongside a commercial with a jingle folks in their forties still have bouncing around the inside of their heads. Each Nintendo Cereal System box contained two 7.5 oz (212 g) bags of two types of cereals.

One side of the box was designed to look like Super Mario Bros., while the other was related to The Legend of Zelda. An advertisement released in 1989 included the text “Nintendo is two cereals in one….Fruit-flavored Marios, Mushrooms, and Goomas. Berry-flavored Links, Hearts, and Shields….If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em.”

Each box came with four of 12 cutout trading cards that were meant to be collectible. Ralston discontinued the cereal after just one year, but you can still find it. Granted, you’ll have to drop as much as $200 per box on eBay, as it’s become highly collectible.

10 Famous Breakfast Cereals That Caused Absurd Controversies

About The Author: graphic artist, illustrator, and writer. He is a Retired Soldier and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects.