Bubblegum on Cardboard
December 1, 2011 3:07 AM Subscribe
Less lenient mothers would make their kids finish the cereal before attacking the box with scissors.
Cereal box records introduced a generation of children to
bubblegum pop.
It began in 1954 when General Mills sold Wheaties boxes backed with 78 rpm records. Each
cardboard record featured a song suitable for children: "
On Top of Old Smokey," "
Dixie," "
Pony Boy," "
It's Fun to Whistle" and "
Sparrow in the Tree Top."
The idea of using cereal boxes to distribute music lay dormant until 1968, when producer
Don Kirshner assembled a group of session musicians to record as
The Archies. The animated group couldn't tour, but they could sell records. Their song "
Sugar, Sugar" hit number one on the pop charts in 1969, the same year that Archies records began appearing on Post
Super Sugar Crisp,
Honeycomb and
Alpha-Bits boxes. Featured songs included "
Jingle Jangle," "
Hide and Seek," "
You Make Me Wanna Dance," and "
Archie's Party."
Kirshner's former creation, The Monkees, had earlier recorded a series of commercials for Kellogg's Rice Krispies (
1 -
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6), but by 1970 songs such as "
The Day We Fall in Love" and "
Forget That Girl" were
being featured on
Post cereal boxes.
Bobby Sherman
got into the act in the '70s with songs like "
Easy Come, Easy Go", "
Bubble Gum and Braces" and "
Seattle." The Jackson 5 filmed several
Post Alpha-Bits commercials, and also released
some their songs on cereal boxes.
posted by Knappster at 3:08 AM on December 1, 2011