Quisp

"The Quazy Energy Cereal", c'est-à-dire, a morning sugar fix for the little lad or lass. Katie bar the door. Introduced in the mid-60s by Quaker Foods; its mascot was a hyperactive cartoon space alien named Quisp - it was an era of US spacemania - drawn by Jay Ward's Bullwinkle team. We shall forgive them. Quisp was followed by a companion cereal called Quake, with an übermacho cartoon character (named Quake, of course). Quisp and Quake staged, perhaps, the first breakfast cereal feud. There was also, later on I think, Orange Quangaroos. Sometimes we don't know when to stop.

Quisp's voice in the commercials was done by Daws Butler, famous at the time for being the voice of Yogi Bear. The voice of Mother Lode was June Foray, who was also the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel, a.k.a. Rocky.

My mother hated Quisp and Quake. I was a Quisp man, and my brother was a Quake fan. We would rather eat brussel sprouts than eat the other person's cereal. So, when it was time to go shopping, she bought four boxes of each. I don't think they were different except for the shapes of the cereal and the color of the boxes (blue for Quisp, red for Quake). Actually, I think they were made from the same ingredients as Cap'n Crunch.

I had the last word when my brother was dealt a double mortal blow. I saved up and bought the Quisp plastic hat with the motorized propeller at the top, and it arrived the same week that they stopped carrying Quake at our grocery store. I still miss the commercials with Quake getting whomped by Quisp.