Originally published at: Remembering Euell Gibbons' Grape Nuts commercials | Boing Boing
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My father, too, liked munching on gravel in the morning.
Another popular one around the house was Fruit’n’Spider (“Tastes so good you forget the spider”).
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I always liked Grape Nuts and am puzzled by the meme that it was supposedly viewed as awful by many people. It’s cereal! What do people who dislike it prefer instead? Fruit Loops or something like that?
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It wasn’t my favorite cereal, but it really wasn’t particularly bad. Of course they were better when you dressed 'em up a little.
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I discovered Gibbons after I found some wild asparagus growing next to a lake and the father of a friend of mine lent me his copy of Stalking The Wild Asparagus. I was fascinated by how many weeds I could find just around my neighborhood were edible.
I know I was a weird kid (see above) but I also like Grape Nuts. Even if I didn’t, though, food is an area where I feel really strongly about letting people enjoy what they enjoy. Yes, there are ethical and environmental concerns with food production but taste is subjective and I’d rather talk about what I like than put down someone else’s preferences.
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Nice BFTP, but I am here to say Cattails DO NOT taste like hot dogs.
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Gibbons was horticulturist/arborist at the Pendle Hill Quaker retreat center outside Philadelphia. Went to a training there years ago and learned of Gibbons’s connection to the place, which helped explain its sustainable and contemplative sense of place
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i love Grape Nuts. we have a box in the cabinet right now. considering your dad’s assumed age, maybe he knows what he was doing by eating it!
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As a kid, Grape Nuts was too healthy for me. Give me Lucky Charms or The Pink Panther branded rip-off of Frosted Flakes.
Today, I have Grape Nuts regularly. Soon off to visit my offspring, who declares there’s an ice cream place near him that has a Grape Nuts ice cream “you just have to try, Dad.”
I always liked that Euell Gibbons guy, and the various parodies.
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A bowl of Grape Nuts with heated milk and a little bit of honey is my favorite breakfast. The heated milk really helps my bad teeth deal with the sometimes excessive crunch.
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Reminds me of the 1976 Larry Groce song, “Junkfood Junkie”
I’m a friend of 'ol Eull Gibbons
And I only eat homegrown spice
I got a John Keats autographed
Grecian urn filled up with my brown rice
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In 1974 and ‘75, I went to elementary school with Gibbons’ grandson, John Gibbons. Nice kid. He and one of his girl cousins supposedly shot a commercial with their granddad, but I never saw it (he said they spit out the Grape-Nuts between takes). John gave me and my brother wild hickory nuts autographed by Euell Gibbons, which I still have in a box of memorabilia somewhere here in the Fortress of Solitude (my basement studio).
And yes, we had Grape Nuts in our house growing up. Not my favorite, but I did enjoy them. They’re best when the milk has softened them just enough to still have a little solidity, but not so much that they’re mush.
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National Geographic once did a feature on Euell Gibbons foraging with his family on a coastal island in Maine and hosting a feast from things they gathered, like mussels, lobsters and, of course, cattails. Probably all made up but it made a big impression.
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In all the years since I heard of Gibbons (back in the pre-Internet days), I always pictured him as an emaciated version of Tom Ewell.
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“You ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.”
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I love Grape Nuts but unfortunately I have a couple teeth chipping away and I don’t want to risk a dentist appointment before absolutely necessary. I could let them soak in milk but I like cold milk and crunchy cereal.
Grape Nuts sprinkled on a bowl of ice cream is very good.
Grape Nuts Flakes is a great option if you like the flavor but not the crunch.
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Grape Nuts. Good food and good exercise.
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Yes, for the jaw!
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Match Game re-runs were my introduction to M. Gibbons.
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Same here! I’ve wondered about that for most of my life.
Also,
Mine too! He also liked Wheat Germ (though not with Grape-Nuts). Now he’s GF…
Speaking of munching on gravel,
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