10 Beloved Breakfast Cereals from the 1950s and 1960s That Have Disappeared

A bowl of nostalgia: revisiting discontinued breakfast cereals

Post's Corn-Fetti breakfast cereal | ©Image Credit: Reddit / @vintageads
Post's Corn-Fetti breakfast cereal | ©Image Credit: Reddit / @vintageads

Breakfast cereals have been a morning staple in American households for generations, offering a quick, crunchy, slurpy, and tasty start to the day. While some brands have endured for decades, others have vanished from store shelves, leaving behind a legacy of colorful boxes, quirky mascots, and sugar-coated nostalgia.

These forgotten favorites once graced kitchen tables across the country and were a delight for children and adults alike with their unique flavors, shapes, and marketing campaigns. From space-age innovations to animal-shaped crunchy bits, these cereals tell a story of changing tastes, evolving nutritional standards, and the ever-shifting landscape of consumer preferences.

So, pour yourself a bowl of memory flakes as we dive into the sweet, crunchy world of discontinued cereals that once brightened countless mornings.

Cubs Cereal

Cubs | ©Image Credits: Pete unseth/Wikimedia Commons
©Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons / Pete unseth

Nabisco introduced Cubs to the American market in 1957. These pillow-like shredded wheat biscuits were heavily geared towards kids and featured promotions like Battling Knights figurines and Tarzan & Batman Shredded Wheat transfers that kids could collect.

Sugar Rice Krinkles

Sugar Rice Krinkles | ©Image Credit: Ajrieger/Wiki Fandom
©Image Credit: Wiki Fandom / Ajrieger

In 1956, Post Consumer Brands released Sugar Krinkles which later came to be known as Sugar Rice Krinkles. It was promoted as a sweet rice cereal with just the right amount of sugar.

The breakfast food’s mascot, the spooky-looking Krinkles the Clown, was featured prominently on its cereal boxes to attract children, but we have a sneaking suspicion it may have had the opposite effect. The sugar-coated breakfast cereal was discontinued in 1969 to make way for new cereal brands, including Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles.

Corn-Fetti

Corn-Fetti | ©Image Credit: @vintageads/Reddit
©Image Credit: Reddit / vintageads

Corn-Fetti was another one of Post Consumer Brand’s breakfast cereals marketed as containing a “magic sugar coat” obviously aimed at kids, but we’re pretty sure that didn’t stop the adults from trying it.

Although the cereal made a big splash when it was first introduced in the 1950s, its popularity eventually faded, leading to its discontinuation in the 1960s.

Sugar Jets

Sugar Jets | ©Image Credit: @vintageads/Reddit
©Image Credit: Reddit / vintageads

Sugar Smiles Cereal was a General Mills product introduced in 1953. It later came to be known as Sugar Jets and was marketed as containing space-age-shaped cereal, likely due to the country’s fascination with space exploration at the time.

The breakfast cereal initially combined sugar-coated Kix and plain Wheaties flakes. However, within its first year on the market, General Mills removed the Wheaties flakes and rebranded the cereal to Sugar Jets. The cereal was eventually discontinued in the late 1960s.

Rice Honeys

Rice Honeys | ©Image Credit: Old Photo Profile/Flickr
©Image Credit: Flickr / horiavarlan

After Nabisco acquired Ranger Joe Rice Honnies in 1954, they changed the cereal’s name to Rice Honeys and relaunched the breakfast food to the market that very year. However, by the late 1960s, the brand experienced a significant drop in sales, prompting the company to change its name to Winnie-the-Pooh Great Honey Crunchers in 1971.

Unfortunately, even the famous bear couldn’t help save the cereal, and its sales continued to decline. Undeterred, Nabisco made one last ditch effort by rebranding the cereal as Klondike Pete’s Crunchy Nuggets. Unfortunately, all these efforts were in vain as the cereal had to be discontinued in 1975, ending its 36-year presence in the market.

All Stars

All Stars | ©Image Credit: Matthewrob92395/Wiki Fandom
©Image Credit: Wiki Fandom / Matthewrob92395

In the 1960s, Kellogg’s introduced its All-Stars cereal, featuring “sugar-toasted oats” shaped like stars. However, after just a few years, it was repackaged as Frosted Sugar Stars in 1963 and later relaunched as Stars Cereal.

Alongside the name change, the cereal pieces were also altered and the distinctive hole in the center of the star shape of the original cereal was filled in.

Crispy Critters

Crispy Critters | ©Image Credit: Daniellewiki/Wiki Fandom
©Image Credit: Wiki Fandom/ Daniellewiki

Post Consumer Brands started rolling out Crispy Critters in 1963. Dubbed “the one and only cereal that came in the shape of animals,” this sweetened cereal, made of oats, consisted of animal-shaped pieces reminiscent of miniature animal crackers. However, Crispy Critters were discontinued, possibly towards the end of the decade, after a decline in sales.

The company attempted to re-launch the cereal in 1987 with a new puppet mascot named Crispy, but the campaign proved unsuccessful.

King Vitaman

King Vitaman | ©Image Credit: AnonymousJoe35 / r/nostalgia / Reddit
©Image Credit: Reddit / AnonymousJoe35

Quaker Oats’ King Vitaman cereal was released in 1968. It not only contained high levels of vitamins and iron but also had a modest amount of sugar compared to other popular breakfast cereals at the time, such as Cap’n Crunch and Lucky Charms.

Featuring its whimsical mascot, King Vitaman, the cereal’s non-animated advertisements included a jingle inviting kids to “Have Breakfast With the King” which was a tempting proposition. The cereal was discontinued in 2019 to the shock of everyone who loyally consumed the product.

Frosty O’s

Frosty O | ©Image Credit: PPD/Pixnio
©Image Credit: PPD / Pixnio

General Mills introduced Frosty O’s in 1959. Early boxes referred to these frosted donut-shaped oat cereals as “sugar-charged Cheerios”. 

However, as consumers became more conscious of their meals and their sugar content, Frosty O’s struggled to compete in the intense cereal market amid changing trends. It was eventually discontinued in 1979.

Juniors

Juniors | ©Image Credit: Th78blue/Wikimedia Commons
©Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Th78blue

Juniors was one of Nabisco’s simplest shredded wheat cereals. Introduced in 1958, the cereal box featured three cartoon-drawn characters named Munchy, Crunchy, and Spoon-Size—on its boxes. Despite efforts to appeal to younger consumers, Juniors was discontinued just a year later.

But the breakfast food seems to hold a nostalgic appeal for cereal lovers. It received 326 votes as one of the All-Time Greatest Cereals on MrBreakfast.com, a popular online resource dedicated entirely to breakfast.