I feel certain I saw Grape-Nuts commercials featuring Euell Gibbons when I was a child. Maybe not. I remember watching Match Game episodes with questions featuring Euell Gibbons.
The answers often went back to wild hickory nuts since Gibbons, in the Grape-Nuts commercials, said the cereal reminded him of "wild hickory nuts."
Grape-Nuts was a healthy cereal in the 1970s, a time where more cereals were healthy. Cream of Wheat, old school oatmeal, Farina. Healthy cereals are less intense than the cereals of those times.
The 1970s was the last pure decade of the U.S. food system with relatively healthy fast food, no high-fructose corn syrup, glyphosate did exist but not to the extent of today's dominance, and a less-greedy approach to processed foods.
Gibbons was into wild foods, appreciating what nature could provide with plants that might otherwise be overlooked. He had a series of books that started with the word "stalking."
- Stalking the Wild Asparagus (1962)
- Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop (1964)
- Stalking the Healthful Herbs (1966)
- Stalking the Good Life (1966)
- Stalking the Faraway Places (1973)
Gibbons was ahead of his time in many ways. The word "diet" was commonly found in artificially sweetened soft drinks with saccharin. People foraged for mushrooms but that wasn't too well-known. People ate liver without irony; the concept of a "nose to tail" approach without a catchphrase.
I remember eating Grape-Nuts as a child, putting refined white sugar on the cereal. I now enjoy Grape-Nuts as an adult minus the sugar. The latest is eating Grape-Nuts with a flavored Greek yogurt. The ingredient list is about as simple as a brand name cereal could get. Grape-Nuts is like no other cereal on the market, though I haven't had wild hickory nuts.
Not everyone knew who Euell Gibbons was, even if they were on Match Game. The contestant seems really confused even when Gene Rayburn explains who Gibbons is.
The Grape-Nuts commercials led to the Match Game jokes. Gibbons did make appearances on Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Match Game kept Gibbons in the spotlight.
What's Tempting: Original Grape-Nuts
What's Tempting: More protein in breakfast cereal
Grape-Nuts went through a self-inflicted PR mess by adding "isolated soy protein," a cheap GMO protein to a cereal already strong in protein. Changing back was a very smart move.
BalanceofFood.com advice coverage
Julia Child has been celebrated lately with a HBO Max series and a CNN film. Child's work and legacy should be celebrated.
Given our love for natural foods, eating foraged wild mushrooms, and a nose to tail approach, we should do more to celebrate the work of Euell Gibbons.
Gibbons died in 1975, not longer after most of the world figured out who this person was. He deserves more than just the punchline of game show questions and a cereal spokesperson.
video credits: YouTube/Bionic Disco; YouTube/movienotes
photo credit: Grape-Nuts
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