A boxtop, in the context of being a

proof of purchase Proof of purchase is often required for sales promotions and manufacturer rebates as evidence that the customer purchased the product. When multiple purchases are required to redeem these rewards, it is referred to as a premium incentive or colle ...

, is understood to be the upper portion of a product box, detached, and mailed as part of a claim for a

radio premium left, Capt. Midnight Decoder Badge During the time that radio programs were the dominant medium in the United States, some programs advertised "souvenirs" of the various shows, which were sometimes called radio premiums. The first of these were ...

or other advertising offer.

Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. In 1954, Gener ...

was a leader in the mail-in boxtop space beginning in 1929 with a coupon promotion in flour bags. Their coupon catalog allowed loyal customers to mail in either money or coupons to purchase items in the Betty Crocker Catalog. By 1937, they began printing their coupons on the outside of their box packaging with a point system towards a discount on a broad range of catalog items including kitchenware, cookbooks, and home goods. During the 1930s through 1960s, cereal boxtops were usually the most common proofs of purchase used to claim such premiums. ( UPCs, which debuted in the 1970s, later served this purpose.) Popular cereal boxtops of the period were Wheaties, which sponsored

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC. Backgr ...

; Kellogg's Pep, which sponsored The Adventures of

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

; Ralston-Purina, which sponsored

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 (genre), Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were s ...

Ranston Straight Shooters; and various

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

, particularly

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Austral ...

and Kix, which sponsored

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

Box Tops for Education

(which now also owns the cereal assets of Ralston-Purina) currently markets its boxtop redemption program toward educational institutions; the program is currently known as Box Tops for Education.

References

Packaging {{Retailing-stub