Old Cereal Boxes Can Be Worth Big Money

Most adults can hark back to the experience of sitting at the morning breakfast table, spoon in hand, studying the back of a favorite cereal box. And we all have stories about how our mom bought boring Rice Krispies instead of the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes we so desperately wanted. Critics may complain, but what started as a simple marketing tool has grown into a multi-million dollar industry.

Baby boomers, in particular, grew up with classic cereal images. From the Trix Rabbit to Cap’n Crunch to Tony The Tiger, kid’s cereal characters have become American marketing icons.

Nostalgia for these classic characters has spurned an ever-growing group of collector’s looking for old cereal boxes. Just take a walk down any grocery aisle and you will see that the big cereal companies aren’t unaware of the “collector” mania–“Limited Edition” boxes are as common as a bowl of Wheaties.

The cereal box marketing craze really took off in the 1930’s, when General Mills created the character Cheeri O’Leary to promote their new “Cherrioats” (later, Cherrios) brand. Post cereals followed by putting Mickey Mouse and other Walt Disney characters on the front and back of boxes. Celebrities like Jack Benny and Joe DiMaggio also appeared on boxes, and popular culture cereal marketing has been an industry mainstay ever since.

What makes older cereal boxes especially valuable is the fact that most were thrown away. Collector’s didn’t start actively saving boxes until the 1980’s, and hence, almost any box made earlier than that can have value. The boxes don’t have to have any cereal inside, it’s the empty box collector’s want.

The most sought-after boxes are the ones that invoke the most nostalgia for baby boomers–the cereal character boxes. Valuable boxes from the 1930’s and 1940’s include the Walt Disney boxes and boxes featuring popular sports heroes of the day. In the 1950’s, boxes featured popular radio characters like Sergeant Preston. In the 1960’s, a whole new crop of cereal characters emerged, many which are highly valued by collectors. These include Quisp, Quake and Quangaroos from Quaker, early Cap’n Crunch varieties, the short-lived Freakies brand and monster boxes including Fruit Brute, Count Chocula and Frankenberry. There is also a whole group of cereal collectors that specialize in Wheaties boxes.

In terms of value, kid’s boxes are king. Boring adult varieties don’t bring much. Boxes that feature cereal characters or celebrities are much more highly valued than generic boxes of Cheerios of Corn Flakes.

The shorter-lived the character, the higher the potential value. As with most things these days, the internet is a good place to start researching the old cereal box you may have in the cupboard.

In the 1980’s the cereal companies caught on to the collector craze and started producing boxes specifically for the “collector” market. As a result, people started saving boxes. When the Minnesota Twins won the 1987 World Series, virtually the entire state of Minnesota had to have the Wheaties box with the team photo on the front. Today, those boxes have only slight value as a result.

The next time you’re searching through your cupboard, keep an eye open for those old cereal boxes that may have been pushed to the back. The most obvious things aren’t always the most valuable!

For more information on old cereal boxes, check out http://www.theimaginaryworld.com