Jill's Journal: What’s the prize in your cereal box?

When I was a kid, I was granted the luxury of picking out my own box of cereal.

Thanks, mom.

I had my favorites, of course, but sometimes, it was the prize inside the box – or on the outside of the box – that had me plucking the sugary box of cereal off of the grocery shelf and plunking it into the cart.

There were secret ring decoders to be had.

Bincolulars.

Matchbox cars.

Invisible ink pens.

Super balls.

Stickers.

Basically, cereals contained lots of plastic stuff that oftentimes were destined for the garbage can long before the box of cereal had even been consumed.

A few of my biggest scores were 45 rpm records that were firmly printed on the back of the box. All that was required was a good scissors, someone who could cut along the dotted line and a record player.

I was fortunate to have all three.

Thanks, mom.

One of the records came off the back of Alphabits was a snappy tune by none other than “The Archies.” I remember playing the heck out of that cardboard record, and if I did a little digging, I still may be able to find it among my collection of 45s from the ‘70s and earlier.

Rarely did my brother and I wait until we got to the bottom of the box. So, like many kids, we’d dump the box of cereal out into a big bowl until – wa-la – the prize could be plucked from the box. 

That little feat usually came with a “why did you do that” from mom. And it was likely warranted, since all of the cereal that came out of the box didn’t always find its way back into the box.

I’m still partial to a few of those sugary cereals on the grocery shelves. Reeses is my downfall. But I’ve taken notice these days that there’s no prize inside to be had or records to be cut off the back of the box itself.

I’m not sure when these bonus gifts went by the wayside, and that kids today don’t get to the experience the excitement of a secret decoder ring, binoculars, invisible ink pens, and so on.

Yes, life may have been simpler back then, but it sure was exciting what could be found in the bottom of a box of sugary cereal.