Grape-Nuts was initially marketed as a natural cereal that could enhance health and vitality, and as a "food for brain and nerve centres." Its lightweight and compact nature, nutritional value, and resistance to spoilage made it a popular food for exploration and expedition groups in the 1920s and 1930s. In World War II, Grape-Nuts was a component of the lightweight
jungle ration used by some
U.S. and
Allied Forces in wartime operations before 1944. A 1939
ad campaign by cartoonist
Walter Hoban continued his
Jerry on the Job comic strip in ''
Woman's Day'' magazine and daily newspaper comics pages. General Foods also marketed Grape-Nuts through a comics-style advertising campaign (a trailblazer in this regard) featuring a character named Little Alby, who gained inordinate strength after consuming a bowl of Grape-Nuts. During the 1940s, comic books from various companies featured one-page comic-strip ads starring
Volto from Mars, a finned red helmet-clad alien superhero visiting Earth, who, like all Martians, recharged his magnetic powers (his left hand repels, his right attracts) by eating "cereal grains", with him quickly developing a particular fondness for Grape-Nuts Flakes which he proclaimed "the best I ever tasted!" In the 1960s, advertising promoted Grape-Nuts as the cereal that "fills you up, not out". Brand users, particularly mother/daughter look-alikes, were shown engaged in fitness activities such as tennis, horseback riding, skiing, and swimming. Also appearing during the "fills you up, not out" campaign were Rob Steffens and Peter Steffens as the characters from
The Peter and Bobert Show, as well as
Andy Griffith and
Don Knotts as Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife. This ad campaign produced one television commercial, which aired on television in 1968, that featured a
catchphrase that became a target for numerous sketches and satirical mentions in
media. Spanning the ensuing two decades and beyond, "Oh no, Mrs. Burke! I thought you were Dale!" was parodied on television variety show sketches, in the film
The Kentucky Fried Movie, and in many episodes of
Mystery Science Theater 3000. Fans continue to discuss the origin of this "riff" and have even developed products that feature the text, "I thought you were Dale." A subsequent ad campaign generated another catchphrase, as
Euell Gibbons became the spokesperson for the brand, promoting Grape-Nuts as the "Back to Nature Cereal." The line "Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible" drew attention to the product from consumers, as well as from comedians. Grape-Nuts is credited as the first widespread product to use a coupon in sales promotion when C. W. Post Company offered a penny-off coupon to get people to try their cereal in the late 1890s. Until recent years, Grape-Nuts packaging set it apart from other cereals, in that no sealed film bag was used. It was sold in a cardboard box, with perforations similar to cardboard laundry detergent powder boxes, perforations could be broken to form a small opening for pouring, near the intersection of one of the narrow side faces and the top surface, rather than featuring lightly glued interlockable flaps at the top which could be separated to open the top face completely (for flake cereal). At one time, Grape-Nuts was the seventh-most popular cold breakfast cereal, but sales declined as Post was sold from one company to another. Around 2005, it held less than 1% of the market. About this time, the formula was changed; the husks from milled grain were ground into the flour and the cereal was pitched as "whole grain", albeit at the cost of roughening the cereal's texture and detracting significantly from
mouthfeel. The addition of vitamins and minerals allowed it to qualify for food-stamp programs. In the UK, the brand grew in popularity in the 40s and 50s, probably from returning ex-servicemen. In the BBC TV film, East of Ipswich, written by Michael Palin, we get a view of teenage family holidays in the late 50s. His father insists on grape nuts at breakfast, and is handed the partially used box when they leave a few days early. == History ==