Cereals Introduced in the 1950s

The 1950s saw the introduction of many cereals that enjoy continued popularity today. Cereal marketing to children took precedence, with sugar and chocolate cereals appealing to younger palettes. Another selling tactic involved catchy prizes in each box which featured gimmicks such as popular cartoon characters. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Kellogg's

Sugar Pops were introduced in 1951 but their name was changed to Corn Pops in the 1980s. The cereal consists of sweet corn pieces with sugar glazing. Frosted Flakes have been in production since 1952. Tony the Tiger won the right to become the cereal's mascot after a consumer competition with another character, Katy the Kangaroo. OK's were an oat cereal with pieces in the shapes of the letter "o" and "k" that stopped production in 1962. At one point, the cereal's mascot was Yogi Bear. Other Kellogg's cereals introduced throughout the 1950s include Honey Smacks, Cocoa Krispies and Special K.

General Mills

Both 1953's Sugar Jets and 1956's Cocoa Puffs feature corn puff pieces similar to Kix. Chocolate covers the pieces in Cocoa Puffs, while Sugar Jets have a covering of sugar. Wheaties flakes were once a part of Sugar Jets when it was known as Sugar Smiles. Trix, which began production in 1954, consists of corn puffs with a fruit flavor. Starting production in 1958, Corn Chex is a corn cereal with pieces made into square shapes. Frosty O's, which resembles Cherrios, first came on the market in 1959.

Post

The 1951 frosted flake corn cereal Corn-Fetti had a peg-legged pirate named Captain Jolly as its mascot. Alpha-Bits, created in 1958, came from a Head of Product Development at Post, who had the idea after creating cereal in macaroni shapes by using a machine to cut pieces. Made in 1959, Heart of Oats is an oat cereal made into shapes of hearts.

Nabisco

Rice Honeys and Wheat Honeys started production in 1954. The cereals had sweetened rice or sweetened wheat pieces. These two cereals were both discontinued in 1975. Cubs shredded wheat biscuits had its name registered in 1938 but did not go into production until 1957. Shredded Wheat Juniors was sold from 1958 to 1959 and had spoon men as a mascots.

Independent Companies and Cereals

Battle Creek Food Company introduced Suprize in 1957. Brown rice flakes make up the cereal, which was created by an inventor who previously worked for Kellogg's. Oat cereal Maypo began in 1951. Its mascot, Marky Maypo, was a later addition in 1956. Ralston's Rice Chex started in 1950 and consists of toasted rice in square shapes.