Above is a postcard advertising Egg-O-See cereal. It is a souvenir from the 1907 Jamestown Exposition which was held in Jamestown, Virginia to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony. They must have given away a lot of these postcards — they are still fairly easy to find more than 100 years later.
A monotone version of the same image was used in the magazine ad shown below. Egg-O-See was a whole wheat cereal. The manufacturer made a lot of fantastic claims in the ad that would not be allowed in cereal ads today. It was even claimed that Egg-O-See kept the blood cool, making it an ideal summer food!
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Another ad ca. 1906 showed some children having an "Egg-O-See Party" and described how the cereal was made:
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Still another ad stated "Egg-O-See is recognized as the leading flaked cereal food of America" and described the manufacturing process as follows:
There is no food product that contains so many of the elements necessary to health and proper nourishment as the whole wheat grain, properly cooked. Egg-O-See is made from the whole grain of the the very best white wheat grown. It is first thoroughly steam-cooked, with every sanitary precaution, and then it is flaked and crisped to a delicious brown, in ovens specially made for this purpose so that every package is exactly the same. That is scientific food making; the Egg-O-See way. (source)
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Hard to imagine children wanting to have a cereal party! It seems manufacturers could claim anything they like in their adverts back then.
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ReplyDeleteThe children at the "Egg-O-See Party" don’t look to be too happy to be there! Love the postcards.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if people really believed all that stuff back then. Well, probably so. We still believe a lot of stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a good breakfast for children was an attempt to prevent childhood disorders brought on by dietary deficiencies. Scurvy, rickets, anemia, etc. were common enough that mothers could be persuaded by adverts like Egg-O-See cereal.
ReplyDeleteWhat were they thinking? Egg-O-See is a terrible name for a cereal.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people requested the name of the 'grateful mother' in the party ad.
I wonder what the makers of Egg-O-See cereal would think of some of the cereals kids go for today - Coco Puffs, Fruit Loops, Charms . . .
ReplyDeleteToday's cereals make some pretty unbelievable claims for their cereals too. I stick with oatmeal. Those party goers look miserable.
ReplyDeleteFabulous cards - there is something about advertising cards that seem to imprint a time-stamp on them even more than topographocal cards. Off for a dish of Egg-O-See now. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteThe card is great. I love the Logo on the slant and the type face. Too bad about the grammar.
ReplyDeleteCould those kids look any less enthusiastic? It's hysterical. And cereal keeping "blood cool" sounds like something the FDA would love going after.
ReplyDeleteOff and on for a few years I did posts about how Ovaltine helps you sleep. I actually got a comment from one person demanding proof. I told them I wasn't the one making the claim, it had been Ovaltine in old ads. I was surprised at the stupidity of the person. Today those blasted Ovaltine posts still draw folks to the site.