Thank you Mr. Kellogg

[Casey2296]

Growing up in suburbia as a kid collecting baseball cards Kelloggs 3D cards were a big thing, new and shiny like a Cadillac right off the lot, I would implore my Mom to get as many boxes of Corn Flakes as would fit in the cart. Of course, that resulted in one whole box in the cart, but I was allowed to pick out the box and I knew that particular box was the one that held the coveted “Say Hey Kid’, the great Willie Mays.

Once a week at the Grocery I would conjure up the spirits of my long dead forefathers, singing the songs of my people, looking for guidance on which box of Corn Flakes to choose, only to be disappointed when I removed that baseball card from the box. No Mays again, nor ever for that entire summer.

I was thoroughly convinced there was an Evil Cabal of loading dock workers in Battle Creek Michigan conspiring to send pallets of Corn Flakes with nothing but Dick Drago & Bill Parsons cards to my particular grocery store, no offense to the Drago/Parsons families but jeez, just once couldn’t I get a Juan Marichal or Willie McCovey?

Then a strange thing happened in my 6-block card collecting universe. The Kelloggs All-Time Greats 15 card set. At first glance they were mesmerizing images that literally jumped off the card, an actual Babe Ruth card that you could touch, flip over, and see that amazing number “714”, Cy Young “511”, Lou Gehrig “2130”…

And unobtainable.

You see, Mr. Kellogg was no dummy, there was only two ways to get those cards. Sending money to Battle Creek for the whole set or buying high end Danish that the cards were inserted in. Neither of which was happening in our household anytime soon. Ah, but there was a third way, I spent the remainder of the Summer trading, flipping, cajoling, threatening, whatever I could do to get my hands on those cards. Obsession would be an understatement. Grand total in my possession by seasons end? -2- Cy Young & Lou Gehrig.

So I suppose I should thank you Mr. Kellogg for a summer long diet consisting solely of Corn Flakes and planting the seeds of pre-war card collecting ruin in the mind of an innocent child…

[ullmandds]

I had that all time great set as a kid...my only examples of these all time greats. They were the first cards I had in my hof binder. Long gone with the passage of time!

Perhaps time for a new set!!!!

[Klrdds]

I still have my set in the original binder. It was the prettiest set I had ever seen : the greatest players ever , great pictures in a 3D background , good career summaries plus a facsimile autograph that started me writing to HOFers and players for autographs.
I ate a bunch of Danish Go - Rounds that summer , and thankfully our neighbors helped out too by giving me a couple cards for the set .

[philo98]

I was born and raised in Battle Creek and can remember the smell of cereal most mornings. Had many friends parents work at the company and we would get all kinds of free cards etc. However I have no idea where there’s are located now.

[oaks1912]

About the only thing that spoiled the summer of '72 for me was the frustration of trying to finish that relatively small set. Mickey Cochrane eluded me until late summer. I remember being force-fed those Danish Go-Rounds, as I came from a family that did not believe in wasting food, and those Danish Go Rounds really stretched the definition of food....... About a year and a half later, when I attended my first sports collector's show, you could buy a full set for a dollar....

[Exhibitman]

Danish Go-Rounds were Pop-Tarts on steroids. Loved 'em and the cards. I am still piecing together the set. I think I am down to one card. They are getting harder to find uncracked in nice shape for a reasonable price.

I have a box back; would love to find a complete box.

[sb1]

For me it was Raisin Bran, got a new box every week and a card. Later I ate my share of Twinkies as well for those panels.

[Fred]

Twinkies sold in packs with the individual card were like the Cracker Jack cards that preceded them 60 years before. The stains on the cards give'm a little bit of character.

Neat post - it was a fun read. Thank you!

[sb1]

No packs for me. I ate them by the box....

[bmattioli]

Kellogg's and Hostess cards are my youth and still actively collect them..

[ullmandds]

YES!!!! Kellogs and hostess! MY dad worked for ITT...who owned hostess...products were abound. I never even knew there was a rold gold set just like the kelloggs all time greats until adulthood!!

Do they all curl over time???

[Hankphenom]

Somebody only had to eat one box to get this, but thankfully they chose not to cut it out.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Somebody only had to eat one box to get this, but thankfully they chose not to cut it out.

Cool item, Hank. I don't recall ever seeing one of these when I was young. It had to be issued before the end of the 1953 season, because Mickey Vernon won the AL batting title in 1953, and this is not mentioned on the cereal box.

[GeoPoto]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

It had to be issued before the end of the 1953 season, because Mickey Vernon won the AL batting title in 1953, and this is not mentioned on the cereal box.

Interesting to see Nationals used -- except for T55 and T56, baseball cards were very consistent in the use of Senators.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

YES!!!! Kellogs and hostess! MY dad worked for ITT...who owned hostess...products were abound. I never even knew there was a rold gold set just like the kelloggs all time greats until adulthood!!

Do they all curl over time???

We collected them out of the packages of rold gold pretzels. As I recall you could see who you were getting so it made the set easier to complete. We ate alot of Corn Flakes and Pretzels growing up.

[toledo_mudhen]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Somebody only had to eat one box to get this, but thankfully they chose not to cut it out.

Looks like this one is SGC Slabbed? What does the flip say and where did you find it? Pretty Cool!

[darkhorse9]

I've been trying to complete the 1975 Kelloggs set but they all seem to crack worse than any other year. They're impossible to find in nm

Otherwise I have a complete run if Kelloggs 1970-1983, Hostess panels 1975-1979 and Hostess Twinkies 1975-1977

[insidethewrapper]

The 1975 set is impossible to collect in top condition because they crack easily. Many of the slabbed cards also are cracked. Don't buy based on the grade, because they may crack later. They are hard to find in top condition , and if you do, they will be cracked the next time you look at them. I put together over 5 sets over the years and I looked at them a few months ago and almost 100% of them are now cracked. I wasted a lot of monery. They were in binders. I have all the other sets including the 1971 Set with a total of 194 variations ( including both dated and undated copyrights).

[GasHouseGang]

I only had one of those cards as a kid, but it was a Ruth so I was happy to get it. I guess my mom wouldn't keep buying the cereal, because I never got another. I don't remember ever seeing the danish. I finally had to buy the set.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Cool item, Hank. I don't recall ever seeing one of these when I was young. It had to be issued before the end of the 1953 season, because Mickey Vernon won the AL batting title in 1953, and this is not mentioned on the cereal box.

I noticed that, too, Val. I'd guess early 50s up to 1953 before the season was done, but the window is '47-53.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

Interesting to see Nationals used -- except for T55 and T56, baseball cards were very consistent in the use of Senators.

Really? I'm not a card guy, but for other stuff, like pennants, pins, etc., which is what I collect, I'd guess the greater use of Nationals over Senators through 1956, when they officially changed the name to Senators. And what are T55-56s, don't think I've heard of those before?

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by toledo_mudhen

Looks like this one is SGC Slabbed? What does the flip say and where did you find it? Pretty Cool!

It's in a frame, not slabbed, and the "flip" is the inside of the cereal box, which is plain cardboard. This was the outside back of the box. I've had it so long I don't remember where I got it.

[qed2190]

I have several packages of the cards that the company sent me from all the years I never opened them they are still in their mailing containers. After seeing these posts I am thinking about unpacking them to see if they are ok or cracked. They are up in the attic somewhere.

[Jay Wolt]

Great thread
Here's my 1978 Kellogg's box

[Troy Kirk]

I'm enjoying this thread, as I'm another one that collected the Kellogg's cards when they were issued. I never saw the Danish Go Rounds cards when I was a kid, I would have made my mom buy them if I did, but I did pick up a cheap set a few years later. I ate so much of the cereal in the 1970s that I will never eat another box of Frosted Flakes again. I offered all my friends a nickel a card and one friend would bring me a lot, often 3 or 4 at a time. Finally I asked him how he was getting so many. He told me he had a bunch of brothers and sisters.

At a National Convention one year, a guy was selling original artwork for the Kellogg's cards, and I bought a few. I probably should have bought more as they are pretty cool. Here's one for Randy Jones.

[NYYFan63]

I loved collecting these as a kid.


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[GeoPoto]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

And what are T55-56s, don't think I've heard of those before?

I think (but I haven't done any research), that all of the post war cards use Senators except 1955 Topps and 1956 Topps, which use Nationals.

[Exhibitman]

Some box panels:









My Danish Go Rounds back panel:



Box 'cards':

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Anyone remember the 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes poster offer on the back of the box? I cut those out into individual cards and still have them. No insignia's on the players caps or uniforms though which I didn't care for.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by jakebeckleyoldeagleeye

Anyone remember the 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes poster offer on the back of the box? I cut those out into individual cards and still have them. No insignia's on the players caps or uniforms though which I didn't care for.

That Nabisco set is so raw & gritty, perfect images for the turmoil of 1969. It's really quite a unique set.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

There's a complete box of 1969 Team Flakes on Ebay for $6,000.

[JollyElm]

My family is huge, so there were a ton of us kids running around, and a never-ending supply of sugary cereals. During summertime, I learned one lesson and I learned it fast. Get up first and check the amount of cereal left in the open boxes. (We weren't allowed to open a new box just to grab the 3-D card, we had to wait until one was empty and then it was open warfare between my brothers and I to get to the bottom of the box to grab that wonderful three dimensional treasure it held.) Having this reconnaissance meant that if the Corn Flakes were low enough to possibly be finished off by the next kid, I would sit in the background and wait for one of my siblings to start pouring a bowl...and when they started doing that 'final shake' to free the last remnants of sugary goodness from the inner waxy bag, I would spring to life and say something like, "Oh, that one's done. Let's open this new one, so I can eat too!" Before they knew what hit them, I was staring at a fantastically shiny new Ralph Garr card!!!

[Troy Kirk]

Funny you mentioned Ralph Garr, Darren, as that's the Kellogg card I most remember getting. On a short family driving vacation in early 1972, we bought a box of Kellogg's cereal and I plucked the Ralph Garr card out of the box. At that time, I thought I knew all the major league players, but I had never heard of Garr, that's the first time I saw a card of him. One of the Kellogg sets had a card of Tony Horton, that was a guy that was never on a Topps card.

[swabie2424]

Count me in as part of the Kellogg's and Hostess card craze back then. My parents were definitely aware of the fun and willing participants trying to help me build sets and get the Yankees I wanted. We ate a lot of sugary cereals and snacks those summers. Luckily, I had a bunch of non-collecting siblings who helped plow through all those treats at lightning speed!

Last year, pre-COVID thank goodness, my mother had back surgery, and I returned to the house I grew up in to visit and help care for her for a week. As she was a bit wiped out and slept a lot, I spent time digging through my folks' basement and lo and behold found a few 5000 count boxes of vintage commons and minor stars (woo-hoo!) and all my Kellogg's and Hostess! Sadly, it appears I convinced my folks to let me hand cut most of the Hostess myself, and they're not in the best shape... but to me they're gold! lol

Now, next time I'm home I need to box them up and flat rate them across the country to my house!

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by swabie2424

Count me in as part of the Kellogg's and Hostess card craze back then. My parents were definitely aware of the fun and willing participants trying to help me build sets and get the Yankees I wanted. We ate a lot of sugary cereals and snacks those summers. Luckily, I had a bunch of non-collecting siblings who helped plow through all those treats at lightning speed!

Last year, pre-COVID thank goodness, my mother had back surgery, and I returned to the house I grew up in to visit and help care for her for a week. As she was a bit wiped out and slept a lot, I spent time digging through my folks' basement and lo and behold found a few 5000 count boxes of vintage commons and minor stars (woo-hoo!) and all my Kellogg's and Hostess! Sadly, it appears I convinced my folks to let me hand cut most of the Hostess myself, and they're not in the best shape... but to me they're gold! lol

Now, next time I'm home I need to box them up and flat rate them across the country to my house!

What a fun thread, the kind of collecting stories we need more of here.

[sayhey24]

The two Mays boxes are from my childhood — the others were picked up along the way.
For a couple of summers we went through a lot of Corn Flakes in my house.
Greg

[Troy Kirk]

Occasionally, a box of cereal was missing the card. Since I had to eat the cereal for a week to get each card, that could get a kid pretty mad. There was a remedy, though.

[Casey2296]

That's a great letter.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Our sugar rush baseball card fix came from Drakes Cakes. Was bummed when they started printing them on the boxes, took all the fun out of it.

[Hankphenom]

Non-sports, but very cool, from 1947!

[OldSchoolBaseball]

Salute to greatest living player

[Leon]

Originally Posted by OldSchoolBaseball

Still looking for more Kellogg's boxes and paying top $

FYI, this isn't the section for this kind of post. There is a BST area for that. If you have any questions please PM me. thanks

[RUKen]

Ty Cobb is described on his card as the "Greatest Left Fielder". Cobb played over 3000 games in a 24-season career, and is only known to have played left field in 36 games.