|
LUCKY CHARMS
by Suzanne
Donahue
I remember thinking I had pulled one over on my parents the first time
they brought home a box of Lucky Charms cereal. I mean, there were
marshmallows in my bowl!
Five different colors of marshmallows! And
not only was I eating them at seven in the morning, but someone in
their vast and infinite wisdom was calling this a nutritious
breakfast!
That "someone" was John Holahan, former Vice President of General
Mills and creator of what became lovingly known as "marbits"-- those
fabulous marshmallow pieces which made Lucky Charms and every
dessert-loving kid's sunrise dream come true.
It was 1963, and Holahan
had picked up a bag of orange marshmallow peanuts in his travels
(Circus Peanuts, for those in the candy know).
He liked them so much
he tried slicing up a few and topping off a bowl of Cheerios with
them. Voila!
The idea for Lucky Charms was born!
"I knew we had a winner," Holahan was later quoted as saying.
In 1964, the character Lucky The Leprechaun was introduced to help
promote the cereal to kids and adults alike.
He had an enthusiastic
Irish brogue and the uncanny ability to transform plain old white
marshmallows into pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, blue
diamonds, and green clovers!
Truth be told, I had a secret crush on Lucky for a long time. He was
my cereal hero.
Holahan died in 2000 near his hometown of Annandale, Minnesota, but
Lucky Charms still lives on. The "marbits" have changed shape and
color from time to time, but I'll always remember this cereal as being
the beginning of the morning dessert phenomenon and the end of
my mother's frightening dry oatmeal.
|
