Did you ever enter a contest as a kid? Long ago, many brands aimed at kids used national write-in contests to promote their products.

All you needed was a boxtop or two. Plus an envelope and a stamp. A first-class stamp cost three cents back in 1940.

Sometimes it was just a matter of mailing in a coupon and then watching your mailbox for a free comic book (or, if you remember Ralphie from A Christmas Story, a secret decoder ring).

Cereal company Ralston had a busy marketing team. They sponsored the Tom Mix radio show, continuing the popularity of the cowboy character in the movies.

All sorts of promotional materials were offered to listeners … as long as they chowed down on Ralston breakfast cereal.

And then there’s this, part of Mom’s collection of writings: A piece of much-folded, lined paper with a carefully written jingle.

I can just picture Mom as a little girl, sitting at her desk in her little room at home in New Haven. Pencil in hand, she found ways to include lots of characters from the radio show, with lots of rhyming and praise for cereal.

There’s not a date on this, but judging by the handwriting, I’d guess Mom was around ten years old, in 1940.

Here’s the text of Mom’s jingle for Ralston:

Oh! Lawyor Snood is a skinny old crab,
I’ll tell you the reason why,
He don’t eat Ralston every day,
But I don’t pity the guy.

Oh! Tom Mix likes adventures,
and Wrangler likes to boast,
But I like Ralston cereal,
With oranges and toast.

Oh! I like Ralston, good old Ralston,
I like Sherred Ralston, too,
But I think I’ll stick to Pecos’s saying,
That Ralston’s best for you.

Oh! I’ve tried every cereal,
That I could ever find,
But when it came to Ralston’s turn,
I then made up my mind.

Oh! I eat Ralston every day,
It is my favorite dish,
And I go to what Wrangler says,
That Ralston is delish.

Oh! I like Ralston good and hot,
It surely hits the spot,
Then I could lick up Amos Snood,
And land him on the cot.

Oh! Ralston is my favorite dish,
I eat it every day,
And I believe what Tom Mix says,
That Ralston is okay.

~ Joan Cassidy, circa 1940

Sure wish I knew the story behind Mom’s jingle, or could at least find an ad calling out to young writers.

But I can tell you I don’t remember Mom serving that particular brand of breakfast cereal to us as kids. Perhaps that tells us all we really need to know.

“Ralston jingle” © circa 1940 Joan Cassidy. All rights reserved.

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