Here's a Kellogg's commercial they say is from 1952, the year of my birth. I think one of the singers is Thurl Ravenscroft, who was the voice of Tony the Tiger, mascot of the product known for a long time as Sugar Frosted Flakes. Later, they were just Frosted Flakes because, you know, it's fine to eat sugar but we don't want to mention it. Also, Kellogg's High Fructose Corn Syrup Frosted Flakes doesn't have quite the same lilt to it.
Frosted Flakes debuted in 1951. Tony was briefly voiced by Dallas McKennon before they settled on Mr. Ravenscroft, who did it until his death in 2005. Quite a run. I'm not sure why that product is absent from this commercial. Maybe it's actually earlier than '52 or maybe Frosted Flakes wasn't yet a nationally-distributed product. Cereals are often introduced into certain regions before the company invests in a nationwide push. Anyway, I'm wondering if there's any connection between Ravenscroft singing in this spot and his casting as Tony.
And what interest me more is that there's only one cereal in the line then — Sugar Corn Pops — where the sales emphasis is on the sugar. That would change soon…