BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Jan 03 - 12:26 PM

Gah!!!! What a blessing that my parents did not have a TV in that era.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Cluin
Date: 22 Jan 03 - 11:25 AM

I remember my parents making us watch the thrice-damned Porter Wagoner show every pissant weekend. I hated it but we only had one TV (and only 2 channels then anyway).On that show, they always had Porter and Dolly advertising Breeze detergent. They used to offer these cheesy floral print hand towels as "freebees" with the soap. I'm not sure, but I think the towels were actually inside the boxes; that's sure the impression they gave anyway. And they held up these little 5 lb. boxes to the camera, smilingly. I remember thinking, "Jeez, there wouldn't be getting much friggin' soap with the sonofabitchin towel in there, now, wouldja?"


"Ayonly in bowxes uv Breeeeeeeze!"

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: IanC
Date: 22 Jan 03 - 11:12 AM

Well, most of those things I once had but they went up in smoke one way or another. My most treasured one is quite recent, though. Got a Wallace and Wendolyn and a Gromit and Sean salt & pepper set. Came with Typhoo or Yorshire tea or something...

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 22 Jan 03 - 11:07 AM

Ha ha! I KNEW we'd talked about this before (that's why I mentioned the possiblity at the beginning) but I didn't remember that it was ME who started it then!

Just a nostalgia fool!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Jan 03 - 09:53 AM

That is the weirdest thing I have seen in a long time. It should be in a time capsule somewhere, summarizing the 1950's.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Mark Clark
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 10:44 PM

I remember having a Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring but I don't think it was in the cereal box, I think I had to send twenty-five cents and a boxtop.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 06:43 PM

Don't feel too bad about the Sonny & Cher album, Bobert. I got it from a bin at the Salavation Army store for 25 cents. It's in seriously bad shape...looks like someone used it as a doormat for a few weeks. The sleeve's pretty beat up too, but it was still worth it for the really tacky psychedelic art and stuff...

Those were the days, eh? "The Beat Goes On" yadda, yadda, yadda!

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Peter T.
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 08:46 AM

The best was the treasure map that came inside pintsized Shredded Wheat (the worst cereal ever) of Oak Island (!) (We have a thread on this). In Canada there was also this great set of bird pictures you got with Red Rose tea (I think), and a book to put them in. I also remember Robin Hood glasses. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Allan C.
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 08:25 AM

Rick, something Bill D just said about the cardboard dividers gave me enough clues to track down one of the other threads we had about this stuff. It is pretty good reading for those of us who love to visit the past from time to time.

Hm-m-m. I just noticed that you were the one who started that thread as well...Those were the good ol' days, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 12:18 AM

I dunno, Little Hawk...my little brother didn't fly too well...*grin*...but I had to quit tossing him when he got to outweigh me...

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 11:37 PM

Anything sort of flies if you toss it just right. Take the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, for example. Please take it! (Aeronautical joke)

One of those electric guitars Curt Cobain designed sort of falls into roughly the same category. They fly great when you toss 'em.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 11:16 PM

In 1946-47, Kellog's Shredded Wheat made the 2 cardboard dividers between the 3 layers of shredded wheat biscuits into punch-out Buck Rogers space ships you could assemble. I had 7-8 of them...they would 'sort of' fly if you tossed them just right.

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Bobert
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:28 PM

Ahhhh, thanks LH! Danged! I go down to the grocery store with the mouse and stick the danged thing in the Corn Flakes box, take it to the manager and everyone starts laughin' uncontrolably. I askes, "Hey, what gives?"

And the manager says "Ya' ever heard of a guy by the name of Little Hawk? You've been had"

And then everyone started laughing at me again. Danged embaressin', LH. And a perfectly good waste of a mouse. Not to mention the $3.29 they shook me down for the box of mouse eatin' Corn Flakes....

Worser than all that, I was lookin' forward to that Sonny and Cher album.....

Danged...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Allan C.
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:18 PM

I am sure I spent many hours doing little else other than watching my tiny Nautilus ascend from the bottom of the sink, surface long enough to discharge a bubble or two and then "dive" again to the bottom. Life was simple then and I was obviously easily amused.

I also was finally able to collect the entire series of six airplanes, all of the Douglas Curtis design, such as the DC-3. Seems to me that they were found in boxes of Sugar Crisps, but I could be wrong.

The coolest thing I ever got from a cereal box was a ray-gun. It wasn't actually in the box, though. I had to tape two quarters to a boxtop and send it to the magical city (Battle Creek). The ray-gun finally arrived in what seemed to me to be a very long time afterwards. I can't recall the mechanism of it very well, but essentially the pistol was loaded with talcum powder. A cloud of powder was released with each pull of the trigger. Unfortunately, if I remember right, it was a single-shot device and reloading was rather involved.

My ray-gun lasted only a few hours. I only had to drop it once and it shattered beyond repair - a rather traumatic event for me at age five as I recall.

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:18 PM

HEY!!! Gareth, we had the frogmen too. As I recall, mine was green.

I had quite a collection of badges too from the Kellogg and Post folks. I remember my Wild Bill Hickok badge came in Sugar Pops (are Tops), now known as just Pops. The Wild Bill badge was pretty cheesy as most of the others were made of cheap tin, bt his was the first I recall made of even cheaper plastic.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Cluin
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:17 PM

Clinton, it's the little plastic bosun's whistle from Cap'n Crunch that the phone hacker used.

I've still got mine. Nyah nyahhh!

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: open mike
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:17 PM

recently got a tony the tiger thing that dives when you put it
in a bottle-"pop" bottle with the lid on and when you squeeze,
increase the pressure, it dives down in the bottle. Is that what
those subs were like? And i got a toy not too long ago like
those soda boat thing-ys but it is a whale-a killer whale if
i remember right...suppose to swim , dive, and stuff when you
put soda in a compartment in it...what about cracker jax box prizes??

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:13 PM

Little hawk, I thought you were going to do better things with your time? On the other hand if you REALLY think up these kinds of mischeif than this probably IS the only place left for you!

One of my secret fantasies was to be able to "doctor" toys. 'Course I wouldn't do it ('cuz I'm TOO Canadian) but things like putting a GI Joe into every "Ken Doll" package, and then putting them back on the shelf.

My decoder ring (for getting "secret Pirate information") came directly from the Commander Tom program out of Buffalo. He played Superman episodes and did 'live' bits. At night he was the Channel 7 weatherman....but we didn't notice.

Heather says that in Scotland she got a BOOK ON EVOLUTION (!!) through a cereal promotion! Good grief, no wonder ya can't trust them commies!

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Gareth
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 06:40 PM

Yup we had those diving things on this side of the pond - only my aging memory says that they were frogmen types.

But dont forget any bath with kids contains uric acid (SP)

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 06:40 PM

We had three "Nautilus" subs and two PT boats. Bath time was like reliving WWII.

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: RangerSteve
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 06:36 PM

I remember the PT boats. I also had this weird thing from Frosted Flakes: it was about 2 inches long, shaped like a football with ridges running the long way and made out of some slightly sticky rubbery substance. You threw it against a wall or window, and it would "walk" down to the bottom. It worked until it gathered enough dust to make it unsticky.

Little Hawk- considering the prize, we all come out winners if we don't take you up on your idea.

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 06:20 PM

Ah, yes...I think you had to mix the vinegar in with the baking soda inside the hull. I didn't remember that part.

We had a lot of fun with cherry bombs back then. I found a thingee that was supposed to hold the leg of some scaffolding or something and used it as a rocket launcher by stuffing a cherry bomb inside, lighting it through a lower screw opening where the fuse could be seen, and sticking a practice golf ball or a crabapple in the top opening at the end of the tube. Very satisfying, specially with the crab apples, cos they would go a long way up. Made a hell of a bang too.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 06:02 PM

LH, the thing with the PT boat only works if you take baths in vinegar. Don't answer that.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:51 PM

Hey, man, I remember those little diving subs! I'm pretty sure they were made by the same guys who made the PT boats. Battle Creek, Michigan rings a bell with me...

Y'know...it's a damn shame that those Big Mouth Billy Bass things are too large to get in a cereal box. They should make a tiny one, with a really annoying, squeaky voice.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:45 PM

Now look, folks, here is a neat idea.

1. Catch a live mouse somehow. (there are ways)

2. Get a new box of cereal at the grocery.

3. Very carefully open the box of cereal, so as not to damage the top noticeably, and insert the mouse inside the bag of cereal. You'll have to open the inner bag slightly to do this.

4. Very neatly reattach the top of the box, using paper glue or white glue.

5. Take the box back to the grocery and go to customer service. Say "There are noises coming from this box of cereal, so we thought we'd better bring it back."

6. Wait around and see what happens. With any luck they'll open it up and investigate.

The first person who does this and provides me with documented proof gets a free used vinyl record of "Sonny & Cher Live in Las Vegas".

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:41 PM

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

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:38 PM

There was a 'harmonica' thing that once came in a box of Cap'n Crunch that I used to torment the cat with...

I wish I still had it... apparently they are much sought after by old school phone phreakers...

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:26 PM

I am such a pack rat, I might still have some of that stuff from cereal boxes! Just 10 minutes ago I was 'moving' things around in a closet and thought to myself,
"I should just throw all this crap out...yeah right, like I would do that!"
I could definitely go on the road show with some of my 'treasures' if I don't through it out first..... yeah ok...
Peace, Rustic

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:26 PM

I remember in the mid-60's you could get these little soft plastic PT-boats in your cereal box. The deck was removable, and the idea was to fill the hull with baking soda, then squeeze the deck back on. There was a small hole at the back of the boat, and the baking soda would react with the water, produce bubbles, and propell the PT-boat around the bathtub, pond, etc....

These were a prized item at the time. They were quite small, about an inch & 1/2 long at the most, I'd say.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:17 PM

Some friends and I once hid a grapefruit inside a large jar of fresh peanut butter, well concealed just under the top layer, and we put it back on the shelf of the local grocery store. I have always wondered who took home that jar of peanut butter. Was it you, Rick? It was in a Loblaws store near Bathurst & Dupont, I think.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 05:06 PM

My brother and I had our square inch, alleged to have had a great view of the flowing Yukon, but not really enough room for a deck let alone the gas grill and the cooler. No clue where our deed has gone.

Charley Noble

Subject: BS: 'IT CAME FROM INSIDE THE CEREAL BOX'!
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 04:56 PM

We've discussed this stuff before, but there are new folks here, and the Sgt. Preston thread really got me thinkin'.

If only my Mother hadn't thrown away my deeds to all that land in the Yukon, I might be a man of property today. I must have had at LEAST two square feet's worth.....and with today's market......

Do you realize that if we'd saved everything from the cereal boxes, we'd all be rich now........or at least be able to get on "Antiques Roadshow"!

Rick (who had a decoder ring, but can't remember who gave it away)