The Hurry Up Breakfast

Post Toasties 1912

"It's Post Toasties dear, don't you want to have your breakfast before leaving?"  "Yes buttercup, but do look at time.  I'm never going to catch that train to New York before I sail to England on the Titanic.  Marvelous ship, I do wish I was able to sail on her maiden voyage."  Yes Post Toasties... The memory lingers.  What sort of catch phrase is that?  I don't want my breakfast haunting me all day, thank you very much.  I prefer to eat it and get on with the day's activities.  And how exactly does it linger?  Does it feel like you ate a brick?  Do you need some Sal Hepatica to move that mass of flattened corn along?  Or perhaps it just keeps "repeating", a quaint term my grandmother used to use when she kept burping.  Of course, as with many food ads from the early 1900's. there's the serving suggestion.   

Take with Milk or Cream and Sugar (if desired).

Not much for low fat diets back then were they?  I also love how this sugar is optional, what if I just want sugar and no milk or cream?  Or perhaps grape juice? (Laugh if you want to, but I knew a vegan that ate his cereal this way.)

I have to give my respect to the artist that drew this ad.  The original seems to have been done in pencil and it well framed with the unique corn design on the side and bottom.  Ad artists in the Golden Era were true artists and their work stands the test of time so much that an original of this ad sells for $40 on Ebay and people actually frame it and hang it on their wall.  Amazing, I only grab the photos so I can make snarky comments about the perceived actions depicted in the artwork.  I know, I'm a weird one because I love vintage stuff.  While most people today fawn over the next American Idol, I watch a total of 7 hours of TV a week.  I actually like old stuff and think they did it better than advertisers today. 

But I digress, Post Toasties has had a rocky history this last decade.  Removed from the market in 2006 it has made an appearance again in limited markets (I wasn't able to find it here in Jacksonville, Fl.)  Like most food products, the ingredients are only a shadow of their former selves so much so that the taste has suffered.  All cornflakes taste like cardboard today and as for frosted flakes I don't usually eat them because of High Fructose Corn Syrup.  However, I did find that The Fresh Market makes their own brand of cereals and their frosted flakes are all natural and the flavor is out of this world.  Best yet is they don't turn into a soggy mass as soon as you add milk... Whole Milk, because like our venerable forefathers I don't do a low-fat diet.

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