Chex is an American brand of

breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in We ...

currently manufactured by

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

. It was originally produced and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, using the name Chex starting in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate spinoff Ralcorp in 1994. and was then sold to General Mills in 1997. Rival cereal company

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toa ...

has the rights to the Chex brand in South Korea and Singapore. The name "Chex" reflects the "

checkerboard A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English; see spelling differences) is a board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of altern ...

square" logo of Ralston Purina. For many years, advertisements for the cereal featured the characters from Charles Schulz's ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and inf ...

'' comic strip.

History

Chex cereal traces its lineage back to Shredded Ralston, which was first produced in the late 1930s. One 1936 grocery store advertisement for the cereal described it as, "ready to eat, made from pure whole wheat . . . Cooked, shredded, and toasted to a delicious golden brown; new in flavor." Bite-sized Shredded Ralston was described in one early promotional article as whole wheat that had been "shredded and baked into crisp-bite-size biscuits." In addition to being recommended as a breakfast cereal, it was suggested as soup croutons, a snack with melted butter, and as the heart of a homemade candy flavored with honey and lemon. One of the early distinctive characteristics of Chex was its shape. When Rice Chex was introduced in 1950, one advertisement described it as, "Golden-toasted shreds of rice, crisscrossed into hollow, Bit Size waffles. Shaped just right for easy eating." In 1951, Shredded Ralston was rebranded as Wheat Chex, initially stating "We are changing the name of Shredded Ralston to Shredded Ralston Wheat Chex," but often using both the short name and the longer name within the same ad copy. Side by side photos in the early 1950s show that the shape of Wheat Chex was not yet changed to the waffle-shape of Rice Chex, retaining its denser, biscuit-like form. When Corn Chex was released in 1959, it was given the Rice Check "criss-crossed" shape, described as helping it stay crispy in milk. When Ralcorp sold the Chex Brand to General Mills, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction o ...

required General Mills to permit the production of private label (store brand) versions of Chex, including by Ralcorp itself.

Flavors and varieties

* Rice Chex (introduced in 1950) *Wheat Chex (introduced in 1951, 1936 as "Shredded Ralston") * Corn Chex (introduced throughout the United States in 1959 after limited distribution in 1958) * Honey Nut Chex (introduced in 1998 as the first General Mills addition to the Chex brand) * Chocolate Chex * Cinnamon Chex * Apple Cinnamon Chex * Blueberry Chex * Peanut Butter Chex Source:

Discontinued varieties

* Raisin Bran Chex (introduced into wide distribution in 1968) * Sugar Frosted Chex (released throughout the United States in 1969) * Sugar Chex *Super Sugar Chex * Oat Chex * Bran Chex (introduced in 1977) * Double Chex * Wheat & Raisin Chex * Graham Chex * Honey Graham Chex * Frosted Mini-Chex * Strawberry Chex * Multi-Bran Chex *Green Onion Chex (limited edition, released by Kellogg's in South Korea in 2020) * Vanilla Chex Source:

Marketing

In its early days, Shredded Ralston (what became Wheat Chex) was promoted as a cereal for the whole family. One common 1937 advertisement said, "Its flavor knows no limits," and then proceeded to explain with six-year old Bobby and older family members all had a different reason to enjoy the cereal. By 1939, Ralston Purina had begun hoping to entice customers with box-top giveaways, such as a pen and pencil set that was still aimed at the whole family. By 1941, however, while their advertising still hoped to entice mothers and wives, the promotions had begun to be aimed at children, such as

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...

comic book give-aways. By 1951, Rice Chex and Wheat Chex were tied up with prized and box-top giveaways squarely aimed at children, such as ripcord helicopter toys. Ralston Purina attempted to redefine the Chex brand in 1956 by running copy on cereal boxes and in some newspapers which declared that they would no longer be putting prizes inside the boxes or targeting children: "This box contains 12 ounces of crunchable, munchable Wheat Chex - the only cereal made on purpose for Grownups." Even so, later ad campaigns for Chex varieties were not so restrained: "Now in every box of Sugar Frosted Chex, you can get one of nine different prizes. Kids will love the secret agent ring or invisible spy pen..."

Tie-In Promotions

The 1970s varieties Sugar Chex and Super Sugar Chex featured Casper the Friendly ghost on the box.

Television and Radio

Tom Mix

During the 1930s, Ralston Purina sponsored the Tom Mix radio show, produced Tom Mix comic books and give-aways, and promoted Shredded Ralston (what became Wheat Chex) as, "the Tom Mix Bite Size cereal that's rich in 'Cowboy Energy.'"

''Space Patrol''

From 1950 to 1955, Chex served as the primary sponsor of the popular TV and radio show '' Space Patrol'', which ran for over 1,000 television episodes and 129 radio episodes. These episodes included many advertisements, promotional offers, and prizes related to Chex cereal, specifically Wheat Chex and Rice Chex.

The Chexmates

In 1968, Chex ran a series of TV commercials on the adventures of The Chexmates, a cartoon threesome who ate Chex to get the strength they needed to travel to Mars, overcome tough obstacles or subdue evil-doers. The characters were a muscular man named Chexter, an Asian karate expert named Chop Louie, and a blonde cowgirl named Jessie Jane. Their voices were provided by John Erwin, Tommy Cook and Julie Bennett.

Video games

Chex is featured in a series of

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...

computer games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...

(''

Chex Quest ''Chex Quest'' is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café, originally intended as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 6–9 and up.Thompson, Stephanie. "WatersMolitor Promo Links Chex and AOL." ...

'', '' Chex Quest 2'', and ''

Chex Quest 3 ''Chex Quest'' is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café, originally intended as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 6–9 and up.Thompson, Stephanie. "WatersMolitor Promo Links Chex and AOL." ...

'') in which the player takes on the role of a Chex Warrior clad in Chex Armor. The games use a modified version of

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's IWAD (graphics, sounds, levels, etc.) and

executable In computing, executable code, an executable file, or an executable program, sometimes simply referred to as an executable or binary, causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions", as opposed to a data fil ...

Chex Mix

Chex is also the basis for a baked snack called "

Chex Mix Chex Mix (stylized as Chex mix) is a type of snack mix that includes Chex breakfast cereal (sold by General Mills) as a major component. There are many recipes (often printed on Chex cereal boxes) for homemade Chex Mix, also known as Chex Party ...

", in which different kinds of Chex are mixed with nuts, pretzels, and baked crackers, and then often baked again with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...

and various other

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s ( Worcestershire sauce in the original mix) to add flavor. Commercial and homemade varieties exist, and the dish is a common holiday snack in the United States. Chex Mix recipes were regularly featured on Chex cereal boxes, and commercially prepared Chex Mix snacks is sold in supermarkets.

Puppy chow

Chex can also be used to make a chocolate snack called "Chex Muddy Buddies", also known as Puppy Chow.

References

External links

Chex home page
* US Patents ** ''Method of making cereal food products'' ( USTPO link:) (

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

link:) ** ''Method for manufacture of cereal food products'' (USTPO link:) (Google link:) ** ''Apparatus for manufacturing a cereal food product'' (USTPO link:) (Google link:) {{General Mills Products introduced in 1937 General Mills cereals Ralston cereals American brands