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The Morning Chex-Press by Ron Goulart
The recent death of author Ron Goulart has brought up his early compositions for an advertising agency that had a wider audience than any of his later writing (a “circulation” of 50 million copies).
From and © The New York Times of April 27, 1962:
We have no idea how many editions appeared, but here’s a sampling.
May 1962:
May 1962
May 1962
March 1964
May 1977
This item puts Ron writing The Chex-Press from 1962-1967.
Ralston-Purina, makers of Chex Cereal (and Purina Dog Chow) decided to do something different. They hired an ad copywriter (Ron Goulart) to write a newspaper parody on the back of their boxes. Thus, the Morning Chex Press was born.
Every few months, a new box would come out. They were filled with jokes, oddball stories, a weather report, and the “No Pictures Comic Strip.” The results were a delight. I think one reason I still love Corn Chex and Rice Chex is thinking about the old Chex Press. I’ll admit I don’t remember too many details (even the Internet gives no specifics), but I do remember looking forward to reading the box each time we bought a new one.
Goulart was just starting his career as a writer. He later developed into one of the funniest writers in science fiction before branching out to write mysteries, including a fairly recent series featuring Groucho Marx as a detective. He’s also well known for his various books on popular culture.
May 1962
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Community Comments
January/20/2022
@ 6:09 pm
We were just talking about this in another part of the internet, and no one could find anything on it. I, at least, recalled having read it (as a child, I enjoyed the idea of eating people chow from the Ralston-Purina company). So great job in finding this info, and then putting it together. Thanks.
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