National Cereal Day

Celebrating America’s top four breakfast cereals

WRITING AND ART by SOPHIA MATTIOLI

In the mid-1800s, James Caleb Jackson, an avid health reformer, invented a breakfast cereal using graham flour dough that dried out so much it had to be soaked in milk overnight. He called it granula.

John Harvey Kellogg and his younger brother immediately picked up this idea and used Jackson’s methods to develop cornflakes, the first example of modern cereal. As cereals have evolved, companies find it hard to make their dried-out grains stand out from the others, hence the turn to mascots and catchphrases to stay on top.

Every year in early March, we are encouraged to grab a bowl and celebrate National Cereal Day.

Honey Nut Cheerios rank as America’s most popular breakfast cereal. Originally named “Cheerioats,” the brand changed to the iconic Cheerios in 1945. These whole grain “o’s” weren’t always O-shaped; the company tested more than ten shapes and sizes before settling on the O.

America’s second most popular cereal, Frosted Flakes, selected their mascot through a public poll. Tony the Tiger beat Katy the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the Gnu to become the face of Frosted Flakes. Tony developed his character even more in the 1970s when he was declared Italian-American and celebrated by magazines Italian GQ and Panorama.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch quickly became America’s third most popular cereal after going through quite the rollercoaster with their original mascot, Chef Wendell. When today’s Crazy Squares replaced Chef Wendell and his fellow chef mascots, fans began to spread rumors claiming Wendell drowned the other two bakers in the cinnamon swirl river. In actuality, they were most likely eliminated for marketing reasons.

Lucky Charms, America’s fourth most popular cereal, only featured clover, heart, star, and moon marshmallows in 1964. Now, you can find horseshoes, unicorns, rainbows, and balloons alongside the four original charms. Lucky the Leprechaun prevails as the brand’s main personality, recently celebrating his fiftieth birthday with an all-green edition of the marshmallow-oat cereal.