The man who invented the Cheerios box top lives in Utah. I don’t know if he envisioned the impact a simple box top would have on the development of generations. That little eight-inch by two-inch piece of paper has brought three or four generations a lot of entertainment.
Do you remember sitting quietly at the kitchen table shoveling Rice Krispies or Wheaties in your mouth without even realizing that you were eating? My brothers and I would sit there reading every spell-binding sentence on the back of the cereal box. And we would manage to forego conversations of any kind just to read through every word of every side, and the top and bottom. There was a gold mine of free stuff. There were offers for toy guns, miniature Barbies, and Nerf balls of every kind. There were multi-colored army men. And cowboys and Indians, with one each of a Mustang stallion and accompanying corral fence which actually opened. The actual size looked bigger on the box than in real life.
My mother sent away box tops for a secret decoder ring. She got accompanying cryptic messages and a magic pencil. My daughter got magic ponies, Cabbage Patch clothing, and her favorite, Superman paraphernalia.
Free stuff gets better and better with each generation. Mom saved box tops for two months for her ring. I only had to eat a couple of boxes of any kind of Kellogg’s cereal. And my daughter could save soup can labels and get a free computer for her school. Now, all we have to do is use our VISA and we get free money!!! One percent of what I spend this time of year is a big bonus for me. And if I buy my Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Crisps with my VISA, I can get the latest Poky Mon toy and my one percent!
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