1953 Wheaties Plates
"General Mills first offered these plates in 1953. The complete '53 set contained 80 plates which were close replicas of the originals. The 80 plates consisted of the (then) 48 US states and the District of Columbia plus 10 Canadian, 10 Old World, 10 Islands & Territories plus the Maharajah bonus plate. The promotion placed some of the more colourful US plates inside boxes of Wheaties and offered complete sets through the mail. The promotion caught on and many stores reported that sales of Wheaties nearly tripled. "
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"The US set (48 states & the District of Columbia) was available for $1.00 plus 4 box tops."
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US Plate Set N to W "Some people may think the 4 plates (Maryland, Missouri, Wisconsin & DC) in the '53 set actually belong in the '54 set due to their having '54 expiry dates. This is not the case. The expiry date is in early '54, which means the plates were registered in the '53 year." |
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"In addition to the US Set of Wheaties Plates, 3 foreign sets (Old World, Islands & Territories, and Canadian) were offered at 25c each plus 1 box top. A bonus plate was offered to anyone ordering all 3 foreign sets at the same time. This bonus plate was a Maharajah plate purportedly like one used on the personal cars of the Maharajah in India."
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Information source - ALPCA Newsletter Feburary 1990 |
