Well Rick, my decoder was not from Orphan Annie but from Captain Midnight and his Secret Squadron. Both were sponsored by Ovaltine so I figure after Annie went off the air and they picked up Captain Midnight they though they might as well get some use out of the warehouse full of the damn things they had left over.

I think that must have happened a lot come to think of it. Jean Sheperd writes of his Jack Armstrong Pedometer he got from Wheaties. A few years later I got one too, but mine was a Bob Mathias Pedometer.

I still think that for the most fun was the little gray diving subs that came free, although you could send off to Battle Creek and for some cash and boxtops get a bigger one. The little ones were just fine and actually worked better than my large one. That promotion coincided very closely with the launching of the Nautilus, the first nuclear sub, and the models looked like Nautilus.

Battle Creek......Man, didn't you imagine what a wonderful place that was? To have all those goodies easily at your disposal. I mean I thought the kids who lived there must have one of everything simply as part of their birthright! Years later, the first time I went to Battle Creek, it didn't seem to be the kind of "Willie Wonka" place I'd imagined...........***sigh***..............

BTW, I had my Yukon land too! Did that make me a Canadian?

Spaw