Cereal is a traditional breakfast food that’s been around for ages. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and learn about the popular cereal that was released the year you were born.
1970: Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles
The Flinstones cartoon came out in 1960. The silly, fun cartoon was a hit among children everywhere, and people wanted to take it to the next level.
In fact, the show garnered so much popularity that the Flinstones characters became the mascots for the Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles cereal.
Although the cereal box covers changed throughout the years, Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble still jump for joy over the fruity and chocolate flavors on most boxes.
1971: Franken Berry and Count Chocula
Franken Berry strawberry-flavored cereal and Count Chocula chocolate-flavored cereal were two of the first products introduced in the General Mills’ Monster collection.
The characters were inspired by kid-friendly versions of the classic horror films Frankenstein and Dracula. Their different flavors ensured that everyone could enjoy.
Luckily, the Monster cereals built up a cult following, so they’re still available at grocery stores today. In fact, lots of other monsters have their own cereal.
1972: Sir Grapefellow and Baron Von Redberry
The Sir Grapefellow cereal that released in 1972 tasted like grapes and marshmallows, and each box held a simple, yet fun airplane toy.
The model aircraft moved around with the help of an inflated balloon. The Baron Von Redberry cereal, on the other hand, was a raspberry and marshmallow-flavored oat blend.
Honestly, we need more cool cereals like these. While you won’t find these on the shelves anymore, we think the airplane toys were cool.
1973: Boo Berry
Boo Berry cereal joined the General Mills’ Monster cereal family only three years after the debut of Franken Berry and Count Chocula.
The frosted blueberry-flavored breakfast had marshmallows and was often compared to Lucky Charms. The fruity kick made it pretty unique, though.
If you still want to enjoy this breakfast cereal, act fast — it’s typically only sold for a limited time each year.
1974: Fruit Brute
Fruit Brute joined the Monster cereal family with its fruit-flavored cereal and marshmallow bits. In the commercial, Franken Berry and Count Chocula make guest appearances.
The mascot wasn’t based on a specific, iconic monster like its other monster siblings. It also had a lot of different flavors, which was a lot.
Unfortunately, Fruit Brute just didn’t have what it took. It was discontinued in 1982, but made a comeback for a limited time in 2013, Uproxx reported.
1975: Corny-Snaps
The 1975 Corny-Snaps cereal wasn’t entirely original; they were of a sweetened corn and oat variety that seemed to taste a lot like Cheerios.
Except instead of the Cheerios O-shape, Corny-Snaps curled to look more like the letter “S.” The Corny-Snaps mascot was a masked red turtle.
In one of the commercials, the turtle saves a town in Zorro-like fashion with a box of Corny-Snaps to make breakfast fun again.
1976: Cinnamon Nut Cheerios
The original Cheerios debuted in the 1940s, but a new flavor (and the first Cheerios variation) called Cinnamon Nut Cheerios came out in 1976.
The new iteration added crushed nuts and a hint of natural cinnamon. However, Honey Nut Cheerios came out a few years later and stole the spotlight.
Luckily, cinnamon cheerios are still around. They’ve always been around, in some form or another. Cheerios Oat Crunch, for instance, is flavored with cinnamon.
1977: Cookie Crisp
Do you remember that adorable howl? A little masked dog howled, “Cooookie crisp” in almost every Cookie Crisp commercial, and people loved it.
It was pretty hard to forget, along with the taste of the bite-sized cookie cereal. The so-called breakfast food first debuted in 1977.
The mascots included a robber, cop, and dog all obsessed with the breakfast food. Later, Chip the Wolf became the cereal’s mascot.
1978: Life Cinnamon
We love Quaker for its oatmeal. But in 1978, the company launched a fun new flavored cereal — Life Cinnamon.
According to the commercial, the cereal was a healthy breakfast option that was sweet on the inside and toasted on the outside.
Even now, Life Cinnamon is advertised as a healthy cereal with 18 grams of whole grains per serving. And it tastes good, too.
1979: Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios were and still are one of the most popular cereals around. It claims to lower your cholesterol, and it tastes delicious, too.
Plus, the famous round oat cereal has the perfect balance of sweetness and crunch, which also makes the milk taste great.
Fun fact: in 2017, Honey Nut Cheerios pulled its bee mascot from cereal boxes to spread awareness about the widespread disappearance of bees.
1980: Powdered Donutz
If you’re a fan of powdered doughnuts (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?), this 1980’s cereal would’ve been absolutely perfect for you.
Powdered Donutz cereal looked like thicker, powdered Cheerios, but they had the addictive taste of sweet donuts. According to a review, Powdered Donutz was one of a kind.
“It was simple and not overly sweet, but tasted amazing,” the reviewer wrote. “Definitely on my list of things I wish would make a reappearance.”
1981: Banana Frosted Flakes
This cereal simplified the breakfast process. Released in 1981, Banana Frosted Flakes offered a fun twist to the sweet, classic corn flake original.
It included bits of real banana, so you didn’t have to slice your own fruit. The cereal box usually featured Tony the Tiger wearing a straw hat.
Additionally, he had a bunch of bananas slung over his shoulder. Banana Frosted Flakes were discontinued, but Kellogg’s released a similar, limited-edition option called banana creme.
1982: Strawberry Shortcake
General Mills’ Strawberry Shortcake cereal was like a strawberry version of the notable frosted corn flakes with fruity flavoring that hit shelves in 1982.
The breakfast food was inspired by the iconic cartoon character Strawberry Shortcake, who was originally created to grace greetings cards. Who knew?
Along with greetings cards and cereal, Strawberry Shortcake toys were also available to the public. She was (and still is) a pretty big deal.
1983: Smurf Berry Crunch
Smurf Berry Crunch was another cereal inspired by popular cartoon characters. The cereal box featured Papa Smurf with a spoonful of red and blue cereal puffs.
In the Smurf Berry Crunch commercial, you can see fellow Smurfs characters hard at work trying to keep up cereal production.
In 1987, Smurf Berry Crunch got an upgrade with the addition of marshmallows with Smurf Magic Berries. They were eventually discontinued. Apparently, they made your poop blue.
1984: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Cinnamon Toast Crunch has sweet little squares sprinkled with “real cinnamon-sparkly goodness.” After 1984, the crunchy cereal was joined by a few other yummy flavors.
So, what kind of flavors did we get? Well, we got French Toast Crunch, Apple Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, and Chocolate Toast Crunch.
Luckily, Cinnamon Toast Crunch is still in production, and it’s available on store shelves today. We don’t know how we’d survive our mornings without it.
1985: Nerds Cereal
Can you imagine the candy with milk? We hope so. The Nerds cereal was based exactly on the sweet boxed hard candies.
Similar to the candy, the 1985-released cereal box came with two separate compartments that gave customers the option to indulge in different flavors.
In one compartment, there was orange and cherry cereal. In the other, there was strawberry and grape cereal. There really was something for everyone.
1986: Circus Fun
Circus Fun was a fruit-flavored cereal with animal-shaped marshmallows, which included horses, hoops, balls, bears, elephants, and lions. Sounds pretty unique.
After the initial 1986 release, the Circus Fun brand hinted that a new marshmallow animal would be added to the box. Eventually, an orange tiger joined the mix.
This cereal also came with little prizes like Starburst candies and bubble gum, which sounds like the coolest part. Too bad it got discontinued in the 90s.
1987: Ice Cream Cones Cereal
As if cereal wasn’t sweet enough, General Mills came out with a new kind that was inspired by ice cream in 1987.
If you loved ice cream cones, this was for you. The Ice Cream Cones cereal came in two different flavors: vanilla and chocolate chip.
The cereal was a mix of small ice cream cone-shaped pieces and puffs that looked like scoops of ice cream. Pretty cool, right?
1988: Dunkin’ Donuts
America runs on Dunkin’. And accordingly, the food chain decided to branch out from coffee and donuts. They embraced a totally different breakfast item, though.
When Dunkin’ Donuts released their cereal in 1988, the breakfast oats looked like Cheerios (or tiny doughnuts) and came in Glazed Style and Chocolate flavors.
Unfortunately, the company discontinued Dunkin’ Donuts after only a year. Still, Dunkin’ is a huge chain, so it’s not like you’re really missing anything.
1989: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This cereal capitalized on the success of the show that goes by the same name. So, what exactly does Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cereal even look like?
Well,, the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal looked exactly like Chex mix with pizza-shaped marshmallows. Remember how much those radioactive turtles loved pizza?
Not only did buyers get to eat a fun snack or breakfast, they also got exclusive collectors cards from the backs of each box.
1990: Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears
The original Teddy Grahams were tiny little bear treats that came out in 1988. Two years after their release, Nabisco offered Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears.
Although it was labeled cereal, the breakfast bears were basically like bigger versions of the regular Teddy Grahams. We don’t think kids complained at all, though.
The cereal was discontinued, but at least we still have regular Teddy Grahams. If you really want, you can eat it out of a bowl with milk.
1991: Urkel-O’s
You probably know where this cereal came from. If you couldn’t guess, Urkel-O’s were based on the Steve Urkel character from hit ’90s show Family Matters.
Yes, Urkel was awkward and clumsy, but the people loved him so much that he ended up with his own cereal in 1991.
According to Cereal Time TV, the sugary oats were a lot like Froot Loops with banana and strawberry flavoring. We’d give it a go.
1992: Berry Berry Kix
Kix cereal originally came out in 1937 featuring crispy corn puffs “dedicated to helping kids get a bright start to their day,” according to the company website.
The original flavor got an upgrade in 1992, though, with the release of Berry Berry Kix. If you liked berry flavors, then you’d obviously like this.
In addition to the regular corn puffs, the box included red and purple clusters that looked like raspberries and grapes, which is pretty unique.
1993: Rice Krispies Treats
Not to be confused with regular Rice Krispies or the packaged Rice Krispies Treats bars, Rice Krispies Treats cereal was a combination between Rice Krispies’ best.
Basically, the 1993 cereal contained sweet clusters of marshmallow-covered Rice Krispies (or bite-sized pieces of Rice Krispies Treats). Talk about delish.
’90s kids are in luck because the cereal is still available for purchase, though you could probably make it by just tearing apart an actual Rice Krispie Treat.
1994: Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs
Reese’s Puffs were inspired by the delicious Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups candy. Think of them as chocolate and peanut butter flavored Kix.
Years after the cereal’s 1994 introduction, General Mills decided to drop the “Peanut Butter” from the name, even though the flavor remained the same.
While they were at it, the company also decided the puffs should be two different colors instead of one. Honestly, we’re just glad that they’re still around.
1995: French Toast Crunch
The French Toast Crunch cereal boasted tiny toast-shaped chunks with maple flavoring. Considering the success of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, this doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
It had a good run after being released in 1995, but the General Mills company discontinued it in 2006. It just couldn’t compare to Cinnamon Toast’s greatness.
Fans were well and truly obsessed with the crunchy goodness, though, so in 2014 General Mills brought back the fan favorite.
1995 – 1996: Waffle Crisp
We have a French toast-inspired cereal, so why not a waffle-inspired cereal? Waffle Crisp gave us just that in the 1990s. And we say thank you.
Waffle Crisp cereal was shaped like tiny waffles you could eat with milk. It’s everything we ever dreamed of in our wildest waffle dreams, and more.
Waffle Crisp was eventually discontinued by its creator Post. But in a twist we didn’t see coming, they came back for a relaunch in 2021.
1997 – 1998: Oreo O’s
If you couldn’t get enough of cookies for breakfast, Oreo O’s cereal had you covered. These are, in fact, little O’s that taste like Oreos.
So, if you ever sat down to a bowl of Cheerios and thought, “This is good, but what if they were Oreos?” your question has been answered. Delicious.
One of the best parts of the 90s was that no one was pretending to be healthy. All of our sugary dreams could come true without worrying about “health.”
1999: Reptar Crunch
If you were a die-hard fan of Rugrats, like most of us born in the 90s, this cereal was for you. Reptar Crunch was, unfortunately, very limited.
You could only get your hands on this stuff for one year, in 1999. True fans of the show and the delicious cereal will remember it.
Technically speaking, Reptar Crunch cereal was a sweetened strawberry rice cereal with little green dinosaurs mixed in. But in our hearts, it was so much more.
Nostalgic Cereals from the Year You Were Born
So, what does the most popular cereal from the year you were born say about you? Does it represent you well as a person and a generation?
If you were lucky enough to be born in the 90s, it might say that you appreciate a good bowl of sugar. No health benefits anywhere in sight.
Whether or not your cereal represents you to a T, it’s always fun to look back on nostalgic brands. These cereals are truly a blast from the past.