Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. Indeed, it makes sense to fuel up your body with food before heading to work instead of just relying on coffee. Plus, breakfast food is the best. You can eat pancakes for any meal, sure. But they’re more special in the morning.
Breakfast is also a big deal when it comes to kids. For some children, it’s a guaranteed meal with their parents. And for others, breakfast is just a fruit – something to grab before running out the door. In fact, plenty of past marketing campaigns targeted both kids and moms, promising to provide better breakfast solutions. Because even though a banana can be filling, nutritious, and perfectly sized for travel, it’s not a lot of fun.
And that’s why many kid breakfast foods from the past were so out-there. Most of them had to have an element of fun to appeal to the audience.
Here are some of the weirdest moments in kid’s breakfast history.
1. Fried Hominy
This one is pretty interesting. In fact, many kid breakfasts consist mainly of cereal.
Now, it doesn’t sound like the worst breakfast.
Hominy is pretty good. It was also one of the most popular sides in the 1910s.
And what might you eat with hominy?
People served the textured good with biscuits and syrup. Kids today, however, probably wouldn’t approve.
2. Gremlins Cereal
The Gremlins movie came out in 1985. And it scared the pants off of plenty of kids. These days, though, it’s considered a Christmas cult favorite. Who would have thought?
And the cereal is just as strange.
Sure, it’s a standard movie promotional fare. But if you dare eat the cereal after midnight with milk, you’re already breaking two of the key rules. And speaking of weird, what’s up with that commercial?
3. E.T. Cereal
On the topic of promotional cereals, there’s also E.T. Cereal.
What’s great about it?
It combined chocolate and peanut butter. What’s not so great? Whenever you pulled out the box, the rather shocking face of E.T. greeted you immediately.
E.T. cereal was introduced in 1984.
And, according to Mr. Breakfast, it tasted more or less the same as Reeses’s Puffs. Truth be told, the Reeses’s puff shape is a lot less terrifying than the E.T. letters featured in this cereal.
4. Borden’s Instant Omelet
Ever feel the need for the omelet, but just have no time to assemble it? For the kids who ate eggs in the morning, Borden’s Instant Omelet was an easy fix for that.
They came in four varieties.
One could choose between Western, Cheese, Mushroom, and Ham varieties. All anyone had to do was add water and voila!
And the concept stuck.
This product was a staple in the ’60s. So now it’s less strange to see similar quick breakfast products in the grocery store. They’re only slightly more appetizing.
5. Cabbage Patch Kids Cereal
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHs6VmdV2ic"]Here’s another kids’ breakfast cereal that maybe shouldn’t have been. Cabbage Patch Kids were wildly popular dolls in the 1980s.
But there was a surprise.
The cereal didn’t pack the same craze. According to the cereal’s advertisement, the shapes seem to look like scary, creepily smiling faces.
We can’t necessarily blame anyone, though.
The company that cranked out the Cabbage Patch breakfast food didn’t have many choices. What else would the cereal be shaped like? Cabbage?
6. Corn Lorraine
This breakfast selection wasn’t really up to the kids. But, parents should have taken one look at this thing and admitted it was a bad choice to serve in the morning.
Seriously, it’s corn.
Mr. Breakfast noted that Del Monte shared the Corn Lorraine recipe in 1962. And it’s everything you’d expect from a creamed corn casserole. At least there’s bacon, though.
7. Pink Panther Flakes
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQxjIt61kDQ"]If the Cabbage Patch Kids could get their own cereal, of course the Pink Panther should also be granted that right. Indeed, the Pink Panther is a legendary cartoon character.
His namesake cereal, however, is a different story.
It ended up being less than great. Kids in the ’70s had to choke down this bubblegum-inspired breakfast food.
Which is unfortunate.
Because many of them probably had to beg their parents to give it a shot. The cereal also reportedly lost its color very quickly and was extremely sweet.
8. Oatmeal Swirlers
The flavored jam was like nothing else. Oatmeal Swirlers came out in 1989 and attempted to make oatmeal appealing to kids.
And, the advertising kind of worked!
Oatmeal Swirlers let children draw on their breakfast and even play a rousing game of tic-tac-toe. That in itself is pretty innovative.
Not everything was perfect, however.
Many of the game boards just looked like disappointing blobs. But hey, everything can’t be perfect.
9. Green Slime Cereal
Anyone who watched a lot of Nickelodeon knew a lot about green slime. It drenched the losers on nearly every one of the network’s game shows. But, who would want to eat it?
Probably no one.
But that’s not General Mills thought. The company released the cereal in 2003. And they likely wanted to capitalize on the product’s seemingly ever-lasting relevancy.
But the breakfast food just didn’t look appetizing.
Those who ate bowls of the General Mills product for breakfast probably felt super close to the Kids Choice Awards, though. And we’re not mad at that.
10. Swanson Great Starts
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4hkr3km4Kw"]Most children didn’t really have the ability to just hop in the car and grab an Egg McMuffin whenever the urge hit. Luckily, though, there was a good chance that their respective moms had some Swanson Great Starts in the freezer.
They may not have been the best tastewise.
But these microwaveable breakfast sandwiches from the ’80s were slightly cooler than a standard bowl of cereal, especially for the kid who wanted to feel more like an adult.
11. Sir Grapefellow
Yes, there was a grape-flavored cereal. Sir Grapefellow debuted in 1972, and it included marshmallows.
Anyone reminded of Lucky Charms?
Interestingly enough, though, thise cereal had connections to World War I. The product’s mascot, Sir Grapefellow, was a British fighter pilot.
And of course, he flew an aircraft that was very reminiscent of a World War I jet.
Sir Grapefellow even had an enemy – Baron Von Redberry. The baron had his own cereal, too.
12. Spam and Eggs
During World War II, spam was incredibly popular. People around the world had to grapple with a meat ration, so spam provided them with the protein they needed at a more affordable price.
People still eat Spam and eggs today.
But the combination made its way on to plenty of plates in the 1940s. We’ll wager, however, that many children still preferred sausage and bacon.
13. Carnation Instant Breakfast
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50BvkmxTlIc"]Ever feel like drinking your breakfast? Well, this would be the breakfast for you. Carnation Instant Breakfast was a very popular breakfast choice for kids in the ’70s and ’80s as well.
A Huffington Post writer even penned a nostalgia piece for the quick breakfast.
They noted that the Carnation Instant Breakfast wasn’t all that different from flavored, sugary milk. But it was still a huge part of their childhood. Hey, it’s more nutritious than completely skipping breakfast all together right?
14. Teddy Grahams Cereal
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8NNzPapOg"]Is there an actual difference between these and the regular Teddy Grahams? Do you just need to add some milk to turn your snack into a cereal?
Who knows.
But this early 1990s breakfast cereal was officially called Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears. And the box came with a frightening paper bear mask.
No thanks.
The only thing scarier was the commercial. That is, unless you’d think nothing of a giant bear parade waking you up in the morning.
15. Pineapple and Ham Breakfast Casserole
Does a casserole make sense for dinner? Certainly. But we may not be that sold on a breakfast casserole. Moreover, ham and pineapple make an award-winning combo.
But they usually top pizza.
Apparently, though, this Hawaiian combo was very popular in the 1950s with people who wanted a hot breakfast.
Exotic breakfast ingredients were pretty popular back then.
Breakfast casseroles are still a thing of course. Many people tend to make them ahead of time and freeze them.
16. Bisquick
Bisquick was (and still is) incredibly versatile. In fact, the flour-like mixture can make nearly anything. It’s especially good for breakfast.
Want pancakes, biscuits, or waffles?
You name it. Bisquick could make it. The product emerged in the 1930s to aid with the Depression-era food scarcity.
But people continued using it decades later.
The product’s ability to make all kinds of quick breakfast meals made it indispensable.
