T-shirt #90: Quisp

T-shirt #90: Quisp: little, sugary flying saucers

The other day,  I eschewed brands and logos in the entry for T-shirt #87; however, I had forgotten that I owned this shirt featuring the cute, little alien from the Quisp breakfast cereal.

Quisp was a breakfast cereal made by Quaker Oats starting in 1965, very similar to Cap'n Crunch in taste. I always thought of the cereal as being shaped like little, flying saucers because of the alien mascot hence the garish title line that I colored in pink and green. Quaker claims that the cereal is shaped like Qs (as in the letter) though I have seen the shapes described others as flying saucers, too. Either way, the "crunch corn cereal" will fill you with "QUAZY energy," according to the box's text.

The advertisements for Quisp were created by Jay Ward, an animator who had worked on the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon (one of my favorites). In both 1972 and 1976, Quaker ran a competition between two of its cereals, asking fans to vote on which cereal would remain on the shelves and which would be discontinued. Each time Quisp beat Quake and Quangaroos, respectively, to remain in production.

Though sales began to fade as the '70s also faded and Quisp was eventually discontinued, its frequent return is further proof of the power of fandom, crying out for the cereal of their youth. Quisp has returned once a decade since the Seventies.

Quisp became the first cereal for sale on the Internet starting in 2001.

In the 2000s, Quaker sold a commemorative watch via the Quisp website (now defunct).









Marie Javins, a longtime blogger (also a comic book creator), writes about the watch on her blog
NO HURRY IN ... (now Jersey City)  AFRICA
in 2007.





Here are some good QUISP resources:

QUISP ON WIKIPEDIA

QUAKER QUISP: HOMETOWN FAVORITES

EVERYTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY EVER WANT TO KNOW ABOUT QUISP

QUISP RETURNS TO STORE SHELVES - 2011


Today's blog entry on Quisp could inspire me to create an entire bevy of entries dedicated to 1960s and 1970s products.

Does anyone remember Funny Face drink mix?

Check out THEY ALWAYS COME BACK for more information.


VINTAGE QUISP AND QUAKE CEREAL COMMERCIAL FROM THE 1970s

PS: I also loved King Vitamin and the old standby: Cap'n Crunch.

- chris tower - 1306.19 - 7:36