Bags in cereal boxes?
Posted by Garf_artfunkle@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Wasn't sure where else to post this, but... I was thinking about how older food packaging used to be made of more sustainable or recyclable materials, even if it didn't keep food fresh on the shelf as long. Anyone else remember cereal boxes not being lined with plastic bags? I feel like the switchover happened sometime in the 80s or very early 90s but I don't remember exactly when.
throwawayhbgtop81@reddit
It's always been in a plastic bag for me. I think one came in foil, probably some sugary cereal
DrMcJedi@reddit
Corn Pops came in foiled bags.
AZbitchmaster@reddit
No, I don't remember not having an inner bag in cereal boxes. That would have had to have been prior to the early 80's, if not even earlier.
Dismal-Detective-737@reddit
They used to be wax paper. I remember cutting them open and laying them flat and using them to bake.
Garf_artfunkle@reddit (OP)
Honestly, I was thinking I remembered them with no liners, but I don't 100% trust my memory about stuff like that - which is why I posted.
suckmyENTIREdick@reddit
I don't recall a time in my life when breakfast cereal boxes came without some manner of liner bag. It used to be waxed paper, and that worked well-enough. (It also folded back up fairly neatly without even using a clothespin to help keep things from going stale.)
I definitely do recall some instances where the bag would fail somehow, and then the cereal would be dumped unceremoniously into the box...but this always happened at home.
I also remember taking the bag completely out of the box to try and see which end I'd need to open up first to try to get the "free" toy out sooner instead of later.
And sometimes, if space in that particular cabinet was low (because of a surplus from a sale on cereal or something), the box would be discarded and only the bag would remain. This let things be stored a bit more-compactly.
wanderingzac@reddit
C.W. Post was bagless, I think! That was my favorite cereal back in the day I didn't know it was just granola but dang I miss it!
Smurfblossom@reddit
Ok so now that we've determined that they used to be bags made of wax paper.......why did that switch to plastic?
cloudydays2021@reddit
I always remember bags, but they were more of a wax paper material. Except for Corn Pops - they had that foil bag
MlsterFlster@reddit
Dude. Memory unlocked. We only got Pops a couple times. I totally forgot about the foil bag.
hamsterdancetrance@reddit
OP I remember what you’re talking about, when the bag started going from wax paper to plastic. As a kid it was a huge PITA to open the new plastic bags—the wax paper and foil bags would separate nicely at the top when you first opened them, but for the plastic ones you just ended up digging a raggedy hole in them and then cereal would get all up in the box after you poured it. Seems like the ones in foil, like Smacks and Golden Crisp, took longer to transition to plastic? I feel like this could have been in the late 90s.
AlekHidell1122@reddit
they use what’s cheap 🤷
New_Camp4174@reddit
Grape Nuts was the only cereal I ever saw without a bag
BillyGoat_TTB@reddit
this. buy Grape Nuts, or Shredded Wheat (biscuits in the paper packets), OP.
Cloud_Disconnected@reddit
No, I always remember that it had a bag. I do remember that it used to be wax paper or something like that before it was that awful plastic they use now that stretches and tears along the side instead of at the seam. But cereal in a box without a bag wouldn't stay fresh long, so I'm skeptical that's been a thing in our lifetimes.
upnytonc@reddit
I always remember the inner bag. Also I grew up without much money so often times we would have the inexpensive cereal that just came in a bag and no box. No, mom they did not taste the same!
JellicoAlpha_3_1@reddit
Cereal has always come in bags that were inside of boxes
Cereal first started being put in wax paper bags...and that was like in 20's
Cereal has been sold in that format ever since