The Post Man

 Post Cereals has been one of the giants in the breakfast game for quite awhile now.  From Grape Nuts to Fruity Pebbles, everybody has a favorite.  But cereal dynasties aren't born, they're made.  And this one was made by a guy named C.W. Post.  If you look into his life you'll find out that he wasn't always such a great guy but but that milk of negativity wasn't enough make his legacy soggy enough to deny him a statue...and I just happened to visit it recently.

 And there he sits, perched high upon his throne, welcoming visitors to the Garza County Courthouse in Post, TX.  Yes, he has a town named after him.  And, yes, he named it after himself after he founded it.  Of course, it was originally called "Post City" and it was meant to be a paradise based on his utopian vision which involved prohibiting alcohol and recreational fornication.  But currently, it's not that different from any other small Texas town.

 

 

Right behind the statue is a Texas Historical marker.  It reads:

     "Internationally known creator of Post Cereals, advertising genius, inventor and innovator, founder of Post City in 1906. Through the purchase of the Curry Comb Ranch and adjacent land approximating 225,000 acres he began his dream of building self-contained model community of towns and farms. Mr. Post financed, supervised and built town without profit to himself. Settlers were offered ownership of business or farm sites far below cost. Mr. Post planned community of debt-free private ownership in every field of endeavor, and sought to make his vision true to its purpose."

 

I'm sure this isn't the only monument to a cereal magnate but my travels have yet to take me to Battle Creek, MI to investigate further.  If you want to visit Post's town (and his statue) you can find it in the in the vicinity of the middle of nowhere in the southern end of the Texas panhandle.  Don't forget the milk!

Crunch Time

 They say everything is bigger in Texas but do "they" mean cereal too?  "Bigger" can be relative, especially in the cereal aisle where birds, rabbits, cavemen and leprechauns all compete for your attention and a place in your shopping cart.  In order to stand out from the crowd you need to do something big.

 And then along comes our old friend Cap'n Crunch with something we didn't even know we wanted: "Cap'n Crunch's Texas Sized Crunch Berries."  It's been way too long since we've had a Texas themed cereal and I was surprised at what a welcome site this was.  The "Limited Edition" breakfast treat boasts Crunch Berries that are three times bigger and has the Cap'n decked out in his Texas dude duds.

Depending on your familiarity with Crunch Berries, these may or may not seem "Texas Sized" to you.  I have to admit I was a little unimpressed at first glance.  I guess it's been awhile since I've had a bowl of the Cap'n's delight since they didn't seem all that big to me.  I assume that regular crunch berries are three times smaller but I honestly didn't want to expend the extra effort or cash to buy a regular box for comparison.  That would be a lot of cereal to get rid of.

So in order to give you a better idea of their size, I've included some State Fair of Texas tickets for perspective.  You can also see here how much bigger the berries are than the regular Cap'n Crunch pieces (do they have a name?).  This also got me in the mood for the inevitable "Deep Fried Cap'n Crunch" which must be coming to the State Fair at some point, if it hasn't already (like the Deep Fried Froot Loops I tried awhile back).

While you chew on that, let's head to the back of the box.  Sure, the "Texas sized" Crunch Berries might have been a disappointment but the Cap'n makes up for it with some Texas themed activities for your morning meal entertainment.  Apparently the "Tex-A-Tron XL" is the machine that makes the bigger Crunch Berries?  Regardless, it's up to you to unscramble the names of famous Texas locations in order to fix it.

If Crunch Berries aren't big enough for you then there are plenty of things in Texas that are.  Before you drink the milk, take some time to find your favorite Texas "big things" in the Cap'n's word search.  Not a bad way to start the morning.

Are we the only state in the country to have their own cereal?  Probably not.  I assume there's some kind of "California Something Or Other Granola" out there somewhere but I'll take the Cap'n over that any day of the week.

Texas Stranger

Previously:

Nolan Ryan: The Comic Book  - -  Nolan's Beef at Dairy Queen

It was the early 90s and the corporate synergy stars aligned when Sports Illustrated, Kellogg's and DC Comics decided to mash themselves together into a chunky paste they called "Tony's Sports Comics."  The concept involved the legendary Frosted Flakes mascot teaming up with sports stars to encourage kids to get active and burn off the calories they racked up from, say...I don't know...various sugar frosted cereals?

I've seen other examples with Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Ozzie Smith but, of course, the one I'm most interested in features the great Nolan Ryan.  He played for both the Astros and the Rangers and is one of the top Texas sports icons of all time.

Our story begins in Cooperstown with Nolan and Tony visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame.  They notice a weirdo talking to the Babe Ruth statue and decide to intervene.  Young Paul wants to make it to the big leagues some day but he's weak in the hitting department.  Nolan tells him about some great former players that also couldn't hit worth a darn but it's hardly a comfort and Paul bolts.

Swing and a miss for the would-be mentor.  But Tony is right there for his bro and he's raring to go track down that kid and bug encourage him some more about baseball.  It's the kind of well meaning enthusiasm that only a sugar-buzzed cartoon tiger could have.  In fact, he's so hyped up he feels the need to go through some of the highlights of Nolan's career.

But enough grandstanding!  It's time to track down that kid whose name I think is Paul.  Let's face it, between the All-Star pitcher and the cereal mascot, he was kind of forgettable. Once they eventually catch up with him they suggest that maybe hitting just isn't his thing...but what about pitching?

Now that these two have totally inserted themselves in this kid's life, it was time to start the hard work.  The comic seems to genuinely try to include actual exercise/training information, or at least I think it does.  But since I don't know anything about training to be a pitcher I couldn't tell you if anything is actually accurate.  But there's something about learning a desirable skill form a freebie promotional comic book that seems very natural to me.  That being said, you'll never guess what training for the big leagues involves starting your day with...

Start the training montage!  If you like stories about weight training, stretching, fastball grips and form on the mound then this is the story for you!  Tony and Nolan (mainly Nolan) go over the fundamentals with Paul and they practice, practice, practice!  Or they just tell him to practice and then go back to their respective ranches.  I know Nolan has a ranch and I assume Tony has one too...filled with delicious sugar frosted antelopes and gazelles (with some sliced bananas to keep it healthy)!

Game time!  Later at a impromptu playground ball game, one of the kids gets called home for dinner (perhaps a cross-over story followed up in a Kraft Cheesasaurus Rex comic?) so Paul gets his big shot at the mound.  And, wouldn't you know it, Nolan & Tony's advice pays off!  Paul struck out the batter and I learned the term "whiffed."  But that's not all...

Looks like Paul made it all the way to State!  And all it took was some personal coaching from one of the best baseball players of all time, encouragement from a professional cereal legend, and (reading between the lines here) bowl after bowl of Frosted Flakes!  Sounds like a winning combination to me!

Hull & Oats

Thanks to Wheaties, the idea of combining cereal and athletes seems completely natural.  Doug Flutie took it up a notch with his Flutie Flakes and several years back Brett Hull, while he was still with the Dallas Stars, managed to get his very own breakfast treat:  Hull-O's!

The expiration date on this box is April of 2000 and I remember picking up the box somewhere in North Texas.  I'm not sure if they were distributed anywhere else.  Proceeds from the sales went to Camp John Marc for Special Needs Kids in Dallas.

Instead of a toy surprise inside the box you had the option to get your very own "Hull-O's" t-shirt for the low, low price price of $13.95 (plus shipping):

At the time I didn't want to cut up my super collectible box but at this point it's a minor regret that I just have to live with.