Roy Rogers and Post Cereals had a licensing agreement for an unknown period of time, but it at least covered the period between 1952-1955 (I’m sure the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans archives can better answer the time period question). Together, the entertainer and cereal manufacturer produced a series of TV spots, print ads, and merchandise.
Here’s an example of a Post Cereal Commercial with Roy Rogers, Pat Brady and a hint of Nelly Belle (see many more commercials here):
In 1952 and 1953, Roy Rogers teamed up with Post Cereals to produce a series of 36 pop-out cards about Roy’s epic adventures. View references to the names for the entire list of cards here.
Card #4 “Pat Brady and Hi Jeep, “Nelly Bell”. Of course, the front is actually the same size as the back. See better images here.
Post Cereals also released a series of 3D cards with Roy Rogers, a few that included jeeps, that required the use of 3D glasses. Here are two examples that include jeeps (there are some of these 3D items for sale on eBay).
And one more off of eBay:
In 1953 Post Cereals joined Roy for a series of pins, one of which included NellyBelle on it.
The below image shows the pins advertised on the back of a Roy Rogers Comic book.
In May and June of 1954 Roy Rogers and Post Cereals teamed up for a Win-A-Jeep Family Contest (see additional info on the CJ-3B page). Importantly, this “contest” was actually a series of four weekly contests.
Entering the contest was simple; fans just had to complete the following phrase:
“My family’s favorite Post Cereal is __________________ because ________________.”
To help spread the word about the contest, Post put out ads in a variety of shapes and sizes. The biggest splash may have been on TV with this commercial.
Print ads varied is size and shape. Some were full page magazine ads like this one. This contest advertises all the prizes available throughout all four weekly contests:
This ad was printed on the back fo the June 1954 issue of Roy Roger’s Magazine.
This full-page newspaper ad appeared May 9th, 1954, in the Philadelphia Inquirer and currently on eBay for $49. Instead of advertising all the prizes available, this one highlights how many prizes were available during just one contest week.
This partial page ad for the contest has an unknown date:
There were also small ads that appeared within grocery store ads. This was one of several I encountered. It was published May 20, 1954, issue of the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
It’s hard to spot amongst all the items Tom’s Food Market offers, so here’s a blowup of it.
Perhaps the strangest give-away was the 1955 contest where an entrant could win their own Pony:
There are other example’s of Post Cereal and Roy Rogers tie-ins not covered above; it seems to have been a mutually satisfactory relationship.
Of course, I remember this commercial. I was 5 years old in 1955, and I “conned” my mother into buying a box of POST SUGAR CRISP. Back then, we were loyal to Kellogg’s Cereals, so this was no easy task. WHY? just because I wanted to win a JEEP. Fifty five years later, when cleaning out an old ice box in the basement, I found the un opened box of POST SUGAR CRISP.
Needless to say, this same scam didn’t work when my little sister wanted to win a PONY.
Roy & trigger.
Contrary to your opinion, I have always thought of Pat Brady as a great character actor, the constant sidekick that supported the star actor, leading man.
And, yes, I don’t get out much, the wise thing to do during these difficult times. I have no need to, perfectly content to live here at the “Monastery”.
Mike,
I figured you’d have some input on this post. I was just a little too young to watch the episodes.
Vernon’s been quarantined again …
In early 1950’s I received a Nellybelle pedal car that my uncle had “won” in the Oklahoma City, OK area.
I am trying to find out what type of contest it was because all I have found so far is the Post Cereal Family Contest to win a full size Jeep.
It&s a bit sad Roy isn’t remembered more.
I’m a few years too young to recall his heyday, and I’m in my 60s.
In the modulate ’90s I went to an antique toy sale (before eBay pretty much ended the things) and seeing a guy with a sign on his back..”Wanted: Roy Rogers memorabilia “.
I see strong prices for Nellybelle toys here but wonder about the overall market (Nellybelle stuff has multiple collector types..Rogers, classic TV, and of course Jeep fans).
Last week the Daily Telegraph (of London) ran a great piece on Roy, Dale and Trigger’s visit to the UK in 1953.
He was huge. Crowds waited in long lines to see him.They flew Trigger over on a cargo plane (this was when only the very wealthy flew to England…flying was expensive before jets and ” economy” fares) and insured him for a million dollars.
To most English kids of the period (where many of their parents didn’t even have a car, let alone a place for a pony), living the modern western life seen in the series would have been like existing on another planet.
They entertained at an orphanage, a young girl sang for them. They were so impressed they invited her to spend the summer with them in the U.S. They eventually adopted her.
So, it was good to see he is remembered…even if it is from a unlikely place.
Beth, your best bet might be to search in local newspapers from that era. If it was a city or regional contest, the major newspaper(s) might have reported on it. You can either search via newspapers.com on the web (very good search mechanisms, but pricey subscription) or through a local library which might have access to newspapers.com.
For example, using the Library of Congress (not as good as newspapers.com), I was able to track down the winner of a 1954 Nelly Belle jeep (pedal jeep?) contest out of Williston, North Dakota: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86075284/1954-06-11/ed-1/seq-10/#date1=1950&index=0&rows=20&words=Belle+contest+Nellie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=Nelly+belle+contest&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
So, there well could have been other Nelly Belle contests in other cities.