Nabisco Cereal Promotions

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Front

To my knowledge, Nabisco Shreddies cereal was never offered in the US. However, it was and I believe still is available in both the UK and Canada. Better known for their Star Wars and other film-related promotions, Nabisco offered the Major Matt Mason promotion in 1968.

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Front

"Malted Shreddies" and "Nourishing Whole Wheat Cereal" grace the front of the box, along with a huge bowl of the stuff.  A classic illustration of Matt holding his helmet graces the bottom, along with the line "Major Matt Mason Offer!"

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Back

The back informs the intrepid reader that "You can have Tremendous Space Adventures with Major Matt Mason, Mattel's Man in Space." It features rather nice photos of the Space Station (outfitted with 4 figures and a plethora of vehicles and equipment), Major Matt Flight Set, Space Probe Pack and Space Suit (Moon Suit) Pack.  The bullets read: "Get Major Matt Mason and his Fabulous Space Equipment," "Official Space Programme Designs," and "Exclusive Low Prices."

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Top

The box top has a rectangular MMM logo with "Major Matt Mason Offer" written in it.

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Bottom

Here's the order form for the various MMM items offered.  I'm not too sure of the UK currency, as the MMM flight set was "15/11" while the Space Station was "78/-" (From Paul: FYI this is in pre-decimal Sterling. 15/11 is 15 shillings/11 pence, one penny short of 16 shillings. 78/- is 78 shillings which is two shillings short of £4)

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Side 1

This side of the box has a picture of Callisto (the same artist rendering that was used in some of Mattel's catalogs and other advertising) and the Space Crawler.  Accompanying them are brief descriptions.

Malted Shreddies Small Blue Box Side 2

 Nothing MMM related here...just some verbiage about Shreddies cereal and Nabisco entitled "A Word to Mothers from Nabisco."

These images were thoughtfully used with permission from Dan Goodsell, longtime Cereal Premium aficionado and owner of the box. You can take a gander at his website Tick Tock Toys.

John's Notes

There are several packaging variants to this promotion (at least two box sizes for both Shreddies and Spoon Sized Shredded Wheat. A quantity of unused boxes surfaced a few years ago but it's unclear whether they are reproductions or actual unused boxed (they're flat and appear die-cut - it's the grainy image that makes them questionable). 

• Spoon Sized Shredded Wheat - Large White Box - this box is primarily white with an unusual read MMM logo prominently displayed on the front "Major Matt Mason Offer"
• Spoon Sized Shredded Wheat - Smaller Blue Box - this is a smaller sized box mostly printed in red with a blue MMM logo
  

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