We once did a show about beer jingles, which is a great example of how a product becomes a culture. Cereal as a culture, is off the charts. There’s the box, there’s the prize, there’s the character, there’s the jingles, there’s the commercials. Most of us can probably sing some jingles and discuss favorite cereal personae from our childhoods, which makes it kind of weird when marketing experts tell us that cereal consumption is in decline.

Who are we without cereal. It has been a staple of the American breakfast since Dr. John Kellogg first tried to purify the traditional American breakfast of veal, oysters, and wild pigeon with his first flakes.

This hour, we talk about cereal, we eat cereal, and we try to rekindle our love of cereal.

GUESTS:

• Eddy Chavey: Founder and president of MrBreakfast.com
• Topher Ellis: Cereal historian, co-author of The Great American Cereal Book: How Cereal Got Its Crunch, and editor of Boxtops
• Linda Giuca: Freelance writer and former food columnist for The Hartford Courantand co-owner of Alforno restaurant in Old Saybrook, Connecticut
• Deena Shanker: Former food and consumer goods reporter for Quartz
• Michael Smulders: The late owner of Bakery on Main in East Hartford, Connecticut

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Lydia Brown, Tucker Ives, Betsy Kaplan, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired January 28, 2016.