Every time I watch the classic movie, A Christmas Story, I’m reminded of my own childhood and the promotions that various cereals ran. While I had a number of the promotional gifts, Captain Midnight decoder badge, diving Navy Frogman, etc., the promotion that real captured my imagination was the Quaker Oats, Klondike Big Inch of Land, promotion. All you had to do was fill out a form and send it in with a box top from Quaker Puffed Wheat or Rice and they would send you a deed to one square inch of land in the Yukon, yep, gold territory. Quaker Oats was the sponsor for the radio and later the TV show, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.
In my 9 year old mind, I was going to acquire enough square inches of land to go prospecting for gold on my Klondike property. I planned to eat my way to riches via puffed rice. I could envision myself finding so much gold, I would spend the rest of my life sitting on the porch of my Klondike cabin smoking cigars and drinking red eye whiskey, and a lever action Winchester rifle on my lap. That didn’t happen of course, partly due to the fact my mom wouldn’t let me eat puffed rice for all three meals every day so I could get enough box tops. On a side note, Quaker Puffed Rice tasted terrible unless you dumped a half cup of sugar in your bowl.
It's just as well I didn’t acquire enough inches of land because in the 1960’s Quaker Oats quit paying taxes on the land they had purchased for the promotion, and the Canadian government took over the land. Here’s an image I found on the Internet of the front and back of those deeds.
In my 9 year old mind, I was going to acquire enough square inches of land to go prospecting for gold on my Klondike property. I planned to eat my way to riches via puffed rice. I could envision myself finding so much gold, I would spend the rest of my life sitting on the porch of my Klondike cabin smoking cigars and drinking red eye whiskey, and a lever action Winchester rifle on my lap. That didn’t happen of course, partly due to the fact my mom wouldn’t let me eat puffed rice for all three meals every day so I could get enough box tops. On a side note, Quaker Puffed Rice tasted terrible unless you dumped a half cup of sugar in your bowl.
It's just as well I didn’t acquire enough inches of land because in the 1960’s Quaker Oats quit paying taxes on the land they had purchased for the promotion, and the Canadian government took over the land. Here’s an image I found on the Internet of the front and back of those deeds.
I was a proud member of the Frito Bandito club. Bet those commercials would drive the snowflakes bat 
today.