Hi everyone....Here is a recent piece that I wrote for our church newsletter that I want to share with you and you may find it of interest (or not!). Love, Dad (Bill)

THOSE WERE THE DAYS

 Kelloggs offered the very first cereal box premium way back in 1909! If you were able to convince your mom to purchase 2 boxes of the Breakfast of Champions you would get your own copy of Jungle Land Moving Picture Book directly from your grocer. I don’t remember which were my favorite breakfast cereals when I was growing up in the 1940’s and 50’s but I do clearly remember the great cereal box prizes. I’m pretty sure that I was able to sway my mom on which cereals to buy based on what wonderful goody was either inside the box or what we could send away for. The immediate draw was the colorful dramatic illustrations and exciting description on the boxes. I had a partial collection of miniature license plates from many of the 48 states and a Dick Tracy decoder ring that could be used to transcribe secret messages while listening to his radio show. And there was a really neat Atomic Submarine right in the box that would actually dive and surface on just a spoonful of baking soda. Wheaties boxes included pocket size Walt Disney comic books and another brand offered one square inch of land in Alaska for Free! Roy Rogers buttons came in Grape Nuts Flakes cereal box and for sending in just 20 cents you could get a swell beanie to put them on. There were Flying Saucers and little Squirt Gun Cameras, Lone Ranger posters and Space Cadet club kits. The possibilities for great fun and excitement were endless.

 Reality struck when I was about 8 or 9. After waiting 4 to 6 agonizing weeks for order for my highly anticipated “Over 100 Realistic Soldiers for just $1.00!” to arrive, I was in tears when the soldiers were not the realistic robust action figures battling it out in the trenches below the smoke and shells as pictured on the box but were actually a small bag of tiny flat uninspired silhouette cut outs. Even after 70 years I can still clearly recall the disappointment of realizing that cereal box prizes didn’t always live up to the hype and why I’m still suspicious of most advertising (Has your Subway sandwich ever looked like the ones on TV?). In todays world of fake news, aggressive marketing and Photoshop it’s nearly impossible to determine what to believe and not to believe. Oh, and don’t get me started about Sea Monkey’s!  -Bill