CHILDHOOD PREMIUMS.......MY CRACKER JACK RING

Breakfast seems incomplete without at least one box of cereal in our cupboards. When I was a kid breakfast was one of three choices:

*Oatmeal

*Cream of Wheat

*Puffs (#gag me)

I'm sure there was usually a biscuit with jam or maybe some homemade bread for toast too, but this Blog is about cereals.

Boy, how times have changed. But one thing remains the same............kids love cereal. I mean it's the food you eat and drink at the same time. Brilliant!

And who doesn't remember being the first one to rip open a box of Cap'n Crunch to get the toy out of it? Those cheaply made flimsy toys were the currency of the day. I had three younger brothers that I would have gladly fed to the lions before I'd let them get to the toy first. There had to be some advantages to being the oldest..............

Not that sugar filled, carb loaded boxes of deliciousness weren't hook enough. The cartons were bright and flashy and it was getting into the late 60s now, and we would see them advertised on TV.

Alpha Bits.

Sugar Crisp.

Froot Loops.

Oh my.

After being brought up on questionably healthy bowls of dry old Puffs or a batch of thin Farina, these treats were like the difference between a plate of pukey white chicken, and then being introduced to "Kentucky Fried Chicken." Now, don't tell me you don't remember your first taste of that crispy, golden, greasy finger lickin' goodness. More pleeze!!

But I digress. Back to the "premiums." In plainer language, the free toys to entice mothers to purchase the new convenience food that all kids would eat. Breakfast cereal. How the dental industry must have loved it!

And a new addiction would be born.

Even now, with no kids present, I always have a couple of boxes of cereal in my cupboard. Now, admittedly, one is Rice Krispies, to make Rice Krispie Treats, and the other is plain Cheerios.

How the pendulum has swung.

I well remember being the babysitter in many households while in my early teens, and many the war between the kids was avoided by checking out the cupboards to see what junk food/cereal might be available to shut them up.

Morning, Noon, or Night, cereal for the win every time. And lots of times they ate the cereal dry, right out of the bowl. Who can argue with that? No dishes!

Most summer breaks when our four kids were the right ages, Jamie would always save his vacation time and pay to take us on a little vacay every summer. It might just be to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, but to us it was like a family trip abroad. The kids planned on that trip all winter and spring. Deciding on what bag to take, where they were sitting in the car, (in the days before air conditioning....) swim suits or not this time.

They learned so much about behaviour and respect and on one trip, B.J. learned an invaluable life lesson about how honesty pays. We were seated at a food court for lunch in Champlain Place if I remember correctly. As we dug in, he started to bawl. He'd lost his coveted "Goosebumps" wallet. He would have been all of 9 or 10 and ordered that glow in the dark billfold with his own money, after reading and collecting the Goosebumps series of books. And all his vacation spending money was in that wallet. A catastrophe. But wait.

Jamie and Jaime Lee took him to the Mall office hoping in vain, that it might have turned up in the lost and found. He needed to learn that this is how you deal with such issues. Of course, it wasn't there. But they took down the info, and let him know that if some honest person found it and turned it in, he'd be notified. As we sat down to resume lunch, with a very downcast B.J. with tears drying on his little face, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that a child's wallet had been turned in, and if you could identify it, it was yours. He was one happy lad after that, and the rest of us learned a valuable lesson too. Honesty pays, and on that day it reaffirmed our faith in people. We all learned so much.

And always, when I packed food or picnics, what was easier and more fun then the individual sized boxes of their favorite Kellogg's cereals? They opened the box carefully on the perforated lines, (which don't even exist anymore, frig sakes) poured the milk right in, and presto! Instant breakfast with no dishes. Again, what's not to love?

Anyhoo.......

When the cereal wars broke out, it boiled down to which company enclosed the most coveted prize. As a kid how I remember the "Whirlaprop" carried I think by Corn Flakes. We played for hours with that thing, really terrific value. And lots of outdoor play.

And how about the little plastic paratroopers, complete with a little square parachute and string? We'd play all day, they really did glide!

Then there were those little puzzles that had nine windows, with one blank so you could scramble and slide them into order.

Just check out these two pictures.

Today, this is what passes for kid's premiums in breakfast cereal. Cripes, I'm disgusted.

Supposing you have a mobile phone. Supposing you have a QR code app.

Supposing you know how to do all that. First they trick you into buying two boxes of cereal. Then go online and fill in all that crap. It looks like quite a job to me, and I'm pretty nimble at that stuff.

Then wait 3-5 weeks. Seriously? Tell that to the kid who wants his own Toucan Sam cereal bowl. Right now. In a world where everything is instant and no one wants to wait for anything, this is ridiculous. Plus watch out for the tiny print that lets you know that the offer is limited to supply. Ergo, forget about getting one. What a crock.

One of Jamie's favorite memories of breakfast cereal as a child was the big bag of Puffs, with the large sturdy plastic "caveman" included as the premium. We had one or two of those too, and now that I'm all grown up, I can't help but wonder what real educational value there was to those, but hey, we remember them still.

What about those sets of dishes that you could choose, one piece at a time from the grocery store if your order was over a certain amount? I'm sure some people still have and use theirs, they were good dishes, and I distinctly remember the stainless steel mixing bowls that were available at the newly opened IGA back in the 80s. I gathered a full collection, still have all mine and use each and every one. You couldn't kill one with William Wallace's broadsword.

And wasn't it out at Bob Gojmerac's gas station that we could choose a towel, same deal? I know for sure they were always welcome in boxes of powdered laundry detergent.

And how about this little charmer that I found a couple of summers ago while on the shore. He would have been part of the collection of ceramic pieces added to a pound of Red Rose Tea back in the day.

The collection of figurines included animals, birds, fish, and characters from children's books. Many the windowsill that had a cluster of these all lined up.

But my all time favourite premium in a product as a kid was hands down a little plastic ring, found with great satisfaction buried at the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks.

Since I had younger brothers, there was no interest in it, and nobody wanted to fight over it.

I can see it yet. A cheap little adjustable plastic ring, with a diamond shaped yellow "stone." I was enthralled! I wore that thing until I probably lost it or it just fell apart. And there was always someone at school who wanted to trade for it, or "Pleeeze can I just wear it for today????"

Nope. Don't bother asking. For once I just felt like the cat's ass.

Cracker Jack also had a lot of great little toys, as you can see in my first photo, and they usually had a loop where you could tie it on a string to wear, like a charm. ........although I'm not sure how I feel about the sets of dentures.......................

Funny the things you remember.

And funny the things you forget. But I've always loved a pretty ring, as an adult I even always wear a toe ring.

But you know, after all these years I never ever forgot that first taste of jewellery with my Cracker Jack diamond ring.

How cool was I.