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Bacon and eggs are delicious, but there isn’t always time in the morning to cook a big breakfast. Enter cereal. Offering an easy morning meal, cereal has been a household staple for families everywhere for more than a century. The market has seen a lengthy list of varieties come and go over the years, but some breakfast cereals that your grandparents might have enjoyed as children are still around today. Here are some of our favorites.
Year Introduced: 1890
Dating back to the late 19th century, Shredded Wheat was invented by Henry Perky in 1890 and debuted at the 1893 Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition. Perky then started the Cereal Machine Company. Many brands have created their own version of the cereal over the years, but the original recipe is now in the hands of Post Consumer Brands.
Related: 30 Things You Didn't Know About Your Favorite Childhood Cereals
Year Introduced: 1894
If you’re a sucker for a good old-fashioned family feud, you’ll get a kick out of the backstory of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. While W.K. Kellogg is credited with the creation of Corn Flakes, his brother John also claimed involvement. The brothers argued so intensely over the matter that they entered into a relentless legal battle, ending with W.K. buying the recipe for Corn Flakes from his brother, and going on to form the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company — now the Kellogg Company.
Year Introduced: 1897
Once a patient of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg’s — one of the brothers behind cereal behemoth Kellogg’s — C.W. Post became a competitor, developing Grape-Nuts cereal. Grape-Nuts were included in the Allied Forces’ rations during missions to Panama and other tropical locations during World War II and have been considered one of the healthier cereal options for more than a century.
Year Introduced: 1924
The “Breakfast of Champions” was actually created by accident — at least according to company lore — a wheat bran mixture that spilled on a hot stove, crackling and turning into a crispy flake. The Washburn-Crosby Company spent three years recreating flakes strong enough to remain intact during packaging. The popular cereal is now known for featuring big-time athletes on its boxes.
Year Introduced: 1928
Before they became the key ingredient in one of the most beloved treats, Rice Krispies burst onto the cereal scene in 1928. While other products might make changes over the years to stay relevant, Rice Krispies has maintained its original integrity for nearly a century. The brand has even stuck with the same mascots since 1932: Snap, Crackle, and Pop.
Year Introduced: 1941
General Mills debuted Cheerios in an effort to veer away from bran cereals and oatmeal, which were prominent during the post-Depression era. Cheerios was introduced as the first puffed oat-based cereal and has remained a stalwart in the cereal aisle for decades.
Year Introduced: 1952
Kellogg’s created a sweeter version of Corn Flakes, coating the cereal in sugar to create “Sugar Frosted Flakes,” dropping the “Sugar” in 1983 to simplify the brand. The cereal’s name is actually so generic that it cannot be trademarked, so many competitors use the same name for their copycat versions.
Year Introduced: 1954
When Trix first emerged, it was made up of an astonishing 46% sugar and included three flavors: orangey-orange, lemony-yellow, and raspberry red. Trix eventually added grapity-grape, lime-green, and wildberry blue to the mix and adopted a flamingo mascot which has since been changed to the iconic white rabbit.
Year Introduced: 1956
Chocolate for breakfast seemed taboo in 1956, but it was every kids’ dream, especially since chocolate cereal created chocolate milk to slurp down once they finished eating. General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs made waves with the rich, decadent breakfast option, made with real Hershey’s chocolate. The cereal has also featured the same legendary mascot since 1960: Sonny the Cuckoo bird.
Year Introduced: 1961
Quaker Oats’ Life has been a pantry staple for decades. The cereal exploded with popularity during the ‘70s amidst an ad campaign featuring a difficult-to-please young boy named “Little Mikey.” Despite its simple composition, the multigrain cereal remains one of the bestselling varieties.
Year Introduced: 1963
Originally called “Fruit Loops,” the colorful cereal was forced to change its name after being hit with a lawsuit which claimed that the product was misleading since it was seemingly presented as a fruit product when it was mostly made up of sugar. Kellogg’s ended up settling, agreeing to rebrand as “Froot Loops.”
Year Introduced: 1963
“Just like Grandma used to make it” is a sentiment pretty much everyone can understand. While Pamela Low was working as a flavorist for a firm hired by Quaker Oats to create a new cereal, she channeled her grandma’s cooking. Low’s grandma used to make rice with a brown sugar and butter sauce and it’s that very sauce that she drew on to derive the perfectly sweet flavor of the original Cap’n Crunch.
Year Introduced: 1964
This magically delicious cereal was actually inspired by Circus Peanuts. Product developer John Holahan created the first prototype with Cheerios and chopped up pieces of Circus Peanuts, his favorite candy. The fan-favorite cereal features a beloved leprechaun mascot and some seriously delicious colorful marshmallow tidbits.
Find more fun food trivia and history right here.