"crunchatize me cap'n!"

As Stef and I sat down for breakfast in the predawn hours of this most recent Sunday morning, I began to wonder about the origins of our beloved breakfast cereals. Stef was munching on CRUNCH BERRIES, a variation of the traditional CAP’N CRUNCH that I was enjoying - well, I was enjoying it except for the patented “Cap’n Crunch Roof Rip”, the name given to this fine cereal’s ability to shred the roof of your mouth with it's razor sharp cereal shapes. Ouch.

All of our crunching got me wondering... What in the world are we thinking? Who decided it would be a good idea to get a salty sea captain to push children’s cereal? And then what was the matter with all of the parents who decided that a cartoon sea captain looked like a good judge of nutrition for their children? Why am I eating this bizarre concoction? And what is this bizarre concoction supposed to look like anyway?

Well, apparently, the Quaker Oats company thought it would be a great idea back in 1963. Seeing as how the CAP’N has had a 45 year run as children’s breakfast champion (that’s right, it’s the top seller), I guess they were on to something. And while I still don’t know how seemingly intelligent adults (like myself) allow a smarmy old codger like the CAP’N to tell me what to eat, I do at least know what the cereal itself is supposed to look like (thank you, Wikipedia)...treasure chests. Of course, treasure chests...how did I not see that? (Sigh...)

Moving to Africa in 15 days. I don’t think the Cap’n has invaded there just yet.