One of the joys of childhood was scavenging over the cereal isle at the local grocery looking for the perfect cereal.
Not the one with marshmellows.
Not the one with fruity fun shapes.
Not the one with the coolest character on the box showing you how yummy it was.
The box I searched for was the one that contained the best prize inside.
"No, I love Raisin Bran!"
"I promise I will eat it all....."
When you are 10 years old, you will pretty much agree to anything to get what you want.
"Yes, I will clean the garage."
"I have no problem with asparagus, I love the stuff!"
Now getting the prize out, was the challenge. You had some cereal makers who would put the toy outside of the bag and some who (for whatever reason loved to torture children) put it all the way at the bottom of the bag.
Indiana Jones had nothing on me when it came to digging for this treasure. The key was to shake the box to the side and slide your hand down, as not to disturb the cereal itself.
Although, now thinking about it. Would it not have been better to just open the bag from the other end?
It's possible.
Some people ignore this method and go straight to the "pour it all out into a giant bowl" routine. This proved hard for getting the cereal back into the bag and into the box.
Once the jewel was secured, who cared about the cereal. Who has ever finished a whole box of Kix? We only want the goodies.
Somewhere along the line the big cereal companies made the choice to cut back on the prizes, or leave them out all together. Opting for the "just send 3 proofs of purchase and $4.95 shipping and handling" route to distribute Saturday morning relics.
Everynow and then, you do see a box with a freebie inside.
Sometimes it's a spoon.
A figurine.
A matchbox car of some sorts.
Most of the time the only thing in the box is a coupon.
Another sad part of my childhood extinct.
