Do you ever eat cereal as a bed time snack? Somehow I thought that eating cereal at times other than breakfast was a fairly new phenomena, but apparently I was wrong. A 1920 advertisement for Quaker puffed grain cereals said that Puffed Wheat, Puffed Rice, and Corn Pops were perfect bedtime snacks.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I had a friend who had a bowl of cereal and milk every night. She swore it helped her sleep.
I’ve also heard that eating a snack before going to bed makes it easier to go to sleep.
Cereal at supper or bedtime was common in our family — grandparents and parents alike. Sugar Crisp was a favorite. I was three when it was introduced in 1949, and I loved it.
When I was a child Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, and Corn Pops were some of my favorite cereals. I haven’t eaten any of them in years. My tastes have changed over time.
Super mind blowing
🙂
Really it super sheryl akka
Eating cereal before bedtime helped my Dad sleep in his later years. Now I am a bad sleeper and will have a cereal snack before bed.
Works for me.
When he was six, my son wrote to Kellogg’s asking how they made Rice Krispies. Was it the same sort of idea as making popcorn? They sent him a very po-faced letter back saying it was a trade secret. They must have thought one small boy was going to set up in serious competition. He’s got over it. He’s 43 now, and still isn’t using his career to make a take-over bid in the breakfast cereal market.
Too much! Perhaps the company thought the child was just a front for the competition!
I know. So funny. It was such an unfriendly letter to a small child.
Good grief – sometimes its amazing how petty big companies can be.
Whereas when my daughter wrote to Marmite about something at a similar age) they sent her a huge pot of the stuff. Now, who won THAT particular PR contest?
Cereal for dinner is one of my favourite things. Any nights when my family is busy doing other things, that’s my go-to choice. Sadly, I can’t bring my family on board with that idea. Sigh.
Cereal is a nice quick meal – though I don’t think my family would go for it either.
We often had cereal for supper, usually on Sundays when we had a large meat at lunchtime.
Similarly to your family, Sunday evenings seemed like a time when my family had very simple meals. I remember that we sometimes had scrambled eggs on Sunday evenings.
Oh yes, we did too, and sometimes just popcorn. Still do!
And doesn’t everyone pour their cereal from a champagne coupe? 🙂
You don’t? 🙂
I like cereal for dinner, but not as a snack before bed. I’m fascinated by the idea of puffed cereal in pancake mix. A gimmick?
Sounds like a gimmick or marketing ploy to me. It seems like all the puffiness and airiness would leave when the puffed grains were ground to make the pancake mix.
Really interesting to see this hundred-year-old ad, Sheryl. It’s nothing but an air-filled carbohydrate, but they make it sound so delicious and nutritious. Fantastic post.
It’s nice to hear that you enjoyed this post.
Oh my! Remembering Quaker Puffed cereals. Not at bedtime, though
It seems like the puffed cereals were more popular years ago than what they are now.
I use to eat cereal for just about any meal but now I don’t eat grains……but I sure do miss cereal.
It seems like we crave the foods we can’t eat.
amen to that! 🙂
Yes, I eat cereal before bed on occasion! It’s a nice, light snack if my dinner turned out not to be totally filling for some reason. 🙂
Very cool to hear that people have been doing this for generations.
I also thought it was fascinating that people have been eating cereal at bedtime for at least a hundred year.
Such a sweet ad! My maternal grandfather ate a bowl every night before he turned in for the night. When I was visiting, I usually also had a bowl with him. I have always liked it better at night because the milk didn’t upset my stomach like it does in the morning. Several years ago while caring for 3 of my grandchildren after school I fed them cereal for a snack. Everyone was happy except their mother (now my ex-DIL) who told them that cereal was not a snack – it was just for breakfast. Well.
I’m with you – flexibility about when we eat which foods makes so much sense..
The thought never entered my head to eat cereal before going to bed. I love it for breakfast, though. This was a fun post, Sheryl.
It’s nice to hear that you enjoyed this post.
The puffed cereal has never been a favorite,but Cheerios and mini wheats I can eat ant time of the day! Now that pancake idea was a new one.. would of loved to try it.
Apparently pancake flour mixed with ground puffed rice didn’t stand the test of time. 🙂
The only time I ever saw people eat cereal in the evening was on Sundays in my college dorm. There was no Sunday evening meal served after a very hearty Sunday dinner at noon. I didn’t even like cereal for breakfast, so I haven’t eaten it at night.
Until you mentioned it, I’d forgotten how dorms often didn’t serve three meals on Sundays.
It was a mystery to me, but it was how they ran the food service.
Interesting. I’ve never eaten cereal other than for breakfast.
I’ve occasionly eaten it at other times, but it never seem quite right.
Hey, my Like is working on your site again! Puts it way in the middle but it’s there.
Yeah! It’s wonderful to hear that you can do “likes” again for this site.
To me, cereal and milk is the original comfort food!
I think you’re right. 🙂