5 Forgotten Vintage Breakfast Cereals

Scooping up spoonfuls of your childhood favorite breakfast cereals is a thing of the past for many adults who forego technicolored sugary treats in favor of more health-conscious options. Still, there is something simply visually appealing about the whimsical artwork splashed across those cardboard boxes. Although cereal may not be as nutritious as you think, the nostalgia factor makes just thinking of them worthwhile. Since cereal became a staple of American breakfast tables in the early 1900s with a significant uptick post World War II, there has been no shortage of fun flavors, innovative marketing campaigns, and delightful household names. Cereals like Crispix, Wheat Hearts, Addams Family Cereal, Frute Brute, Pro Stars Cereal, and Freakies are perhaps less recognizable among the throngs of breakfast big shots that have come and gone, yet all still have a place in the pantheon of food history.

A number of cereals in the 1980s and ’90s were intended to tie in with marketing efforts surrounding cartoons and toys. You’d pity the fool who’d forget Mr. T breakfast cereal, yet the overwhelming amount of these pop culture and cereal collaborations is so staggering that it’s difficult to remember each and every one. Even fan favorites like the General Mills monster cereals that appear every Halloween have undergone enough changes over time to inspire curiosity from consumers. Taking a moment to remember vintage breakfast cereals of yesteryear could feel almost as good as watching Saturday morning cartoons in your pajamas.

Another vintage breakfast cereal that stands out from the bunch yet is only remembered by true die-hards is a cereal of the hot variety. Rather than crunching into a bowl of puffy corn or rice, Wheat Hearts takes a more refined approach to breakfast time with a rich, wheat germ-based cereal that is best prepared with either hot water or warm milk. Originally introduced in 1960 by General Mills, Wheat Hearts collaborated with popular cartoon characters of the time, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, for promotional ads.

Though the notion of wheat germ doesn’t initially sound too appetizing, this cereal is fondly remembered by many for its appealing texture and subtly sweet and creamy flavor as well as its usefulness when added to coffee cakes and similar recipes. It is unclear the specific year when Wheat Hearts disappeared from shelves, but those who loved it best still feel the sting of its absence. Some argue that Cream of Wheat is an adequate substitute, but most of those who grew up on Wheat Hearts contest that it simply doesn’t measure up.

Keeping up with an already decades-long history of cereal and pop culture tie-ins is the largely forgotten “The Addams Family” cereal of the early 1990s. Not to be confused with Kellogg’s 2024 cereal inspired by the “Wednesday” series, “The Addams Family” cereal was specifically created by Ralston in a promotional partnership for the eponymous 1991 film. As a bonus incentive, each box also came with a free flashlight in one of four different characters from “The Addams Family” — either Cousin Itt, Uncle Fester, Thing, or Lurch — and a movie still on the back suitable for cutting out and displaying.

The cereal itself is described on the box as a mysterious flavor, but it has since been described by some as syrupy sweet and by others as disgusting. With a variety of themed cereal shapes including skulls, headless dolls, and an approximation of Thing’s disembodied hand, Ralston definitely wanted to give those eating The Addams Family cereal a well-rounded creepy and kooky experience in every bite. Though this cereal bit the proverbial dust in 1999, its legacy is nonetheless significant.

A marvel of monster cereal infamy, Frute Brute (née “Fruit Brute”) was introduced by General Mills in 1974. In comparison to other monster-inspired breakfast buddies, this cereal-ized riff on the Wolf Man character couldn’t hold a candle to giants like Count Chocula and Boo-Berry, which had more focused flavors. Frute Brute’s cherry-flavored cereal was accented by a barrage of lime-flavored marshmallows, which seemed to hinder more than help the cereal that was already lacking in cohesive taste. Spanning less than a decade, Frute Brute was sent back to the General Mills cereal vault in 1982.

Making a brief return in 2013, Frute Brute is still a cult favorite among cereal fanatics, particularly those who have taken notice of the box making a cameo appearance in the background of scenes from Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction.” In August of 2022, Frute Brute came back again alongside Count Chocula, Boo-Berry, and Franken Berry in the form of a limited-edition release of specially designed boxes by the artist KAWS. Though General Mills’ monster cereals are still a staple of the Halloween season, Frute Brute has a zombie-like penchant for coming back to life every once in a while.

This mid-1980s breakfast cereal may have preceded the animated series bearing the same name, but Pro Stars cereal definitely had the right stuff as far as branding and pop culture tie-ins are concerned. Backed by a hearty endorsement from then hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky, the cereal was shaped into bite-sized stars made with toasted oats. Lauded by Gretzky and producer General Mills as a healthier alternative to other cereals of its time, one of Pro Stars cereal’s biggest claims to fame was that it contained no added sugar, instead using the sweetening agent Nutrasweet, also known as aspartame, in its place.

Many that do remember the cereal recall its sweetened taste positively, while others have theorized that it bears a suspicious resemblance to the short lived cereal of the same shape called Sprinkle Spangle. Of the two hockey-themed cereals to ever exist, Pro Stars definitely had the edge with its backing from Wayne Gretzky. Although discontinued around 1992, a 2017 tweet by Gretzky inspired murmurs among fans that perhaps Pro Stars was poised to make a triumphant return, but it sadly never came to be.

If “The Addams Family” cereal was creepy and kooky, then Freakies cereal belongs in a class entirely of its own. Spanning from 1972-1976, this was Ralston’s first tiptoe into the world of packaged breakfast cereals, and the hits kept coming from there. Boasting a cast of seven unique characters with distinctive personalities, television commercials for Freakies cereal were like mini cartoon episodes, intended to get in front of kids and hold their attention. The characters, named Hamhose, Cowmumble, Gargle, Grumble, Snorkeldorf, Goodie-goodie, and BossMoss, were all creations of Jackie End, a copywriter for Ralston who based the persona of each character off of her coworkers at the time.

Made of puffed loops that resembled the shape and taste of Cheerios, Freakies cereal was notably sweeter and even spawned subsequent flavors, including Cocoa Freakies and Fruity Freakies. After an attempted comeback was staged in the late 1980s, Freakies cereal disappeared from shelves for good, its memory lost to time. That is, until fans spotted a Freakies Easter egg in the after-credits sequence of the 2023 James Gunn film “Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3,” where protagonist, Peter Quill, is seen eating cereal and wearing a Freakies t-shirt. Long live Freakies cereal and all the wacky lore therein.