Mandicrafts News & Views - Teddy Bears & Collectibles: Advertising Collectibles - Cereal Premiums - Giveaways

Advertising Collectibles - Exploring Vintage & Modern Promotional Premiums

Over the years, many companies have added "incentives" for purchasing a particular product. Send away proof of purchase seals and get your FREE comic, badge, salt and pepper shakers, mug etc. Many of these items were not, or are not, available to the general public and have become very collectible!

One of the most prolific of advertising give-aways or premiums are amongst the maker's of breakfast cereals.

A Series of mini Walt Disney Productions Comic Books offered by Cheerios in the 1940s.


Walt Disney Productions Comic Books - Cheerios Cereal Premium Series 1940s


Mickey Mouse, Dumbo, Br'er Rabbit, Seven Dwarfs Comics

The 32 page comic books were offered as a mail-in premium by Cheerios/General Mills and were issued as sets of 4, each with their own series codes so customers could keep track of what they still needed to collect. The books shown are dated 1947.

Quaker offered movie star pinback buttons or badges FREE in specially marked cereal boxes of Puffed Wheat & Rice. There were 20 in the promotion dating to c1940s to 1950s.

William Holden Button


Quaker Puffed Cereal Premium

c1950s button badge featuring William Holden "A Paramount Star", with Quaker Puffed Wheat & Rice "Shot From Guns" promo printed on the reverse.


Ken-L-Ration Salt & Pepper Premium

Ken-L-Ration Pet Foods advertising premium Fifi and Fido hard plastic salt and pepper shakers. Marked F&F Mold and Die Works Dayton Ohio on the base. Fiedler & Fiedler Die Works specialized in plastic premiums for many companies in the 50s and 60s.

Maple Leaf Ltd, Holland was established in 1948 and issued mini metal license plates, offered in Canada with a line of Dutch chocolate candy in the 1960s. Featuring worldwide countries in the distinctly European-style license plate format of slim and long, USA states were also included in this unusual issue style.

Mini License Plates USA

Mini License Plates Caribbean

Measuring 2 3/4 inches x 1 inch tall, mini license plates made from steel and offered by Maple Leaf Ltd.

The reverse of each plate has the country info in English, and several European languages including French, German and Dutch and the company info in English and Dutch.

Plush stuffed animals are a popular advertising premium put out by many retailers and manufacturers to promote new product lines, or for Christmas, Easter and other holiday/seasonal promotions.

Victoria's Secret issues mini stuffed fabric dogs in a limited edition as a gift with purchase for their PINK line of products. PINK was introduced in 2002.

Victoria's Secret PINK Brand Dog

Victoria's Secret mini dogs have no features and are made from a variety of fabric prints and materials.

Also available for purchase are other branded stuffed animals by Victoria's Secret, often in Limited Editions.

Victoria's Secret Max & Lucy Stuffed Yorkies issued in 2003.

Twin Yorkshire Terrier Pups, named Max and Lucy with a bonus mini beaded picture frame included on their collars.

In Canada, when buying a new Hoover vacuum cleaner in 1991, a special Limited Edition plush stuffed "Dirt Beastie" animal was offered as a gift with purchase.

Hang Tag for Dirt Beastie by Hoover

Hoover Vacuum Dirt Beastie

Serta Sleep Sheep Pink Promo Plush

Serta Mattresses are famous for their plush promotional "Sleep Sheep" as seen on commercials for their brand. They are issued with numbers and those made from pink plush also honour the fight against Breast Cancer. Less known are their mugs, issued in Canada for The Brick franchise of furniture stores.

Serta Sleep Sheep Promo Mugs for The Brick


Serta Sleep Sheep Plush

Laura Secord Canada, a chocolatier creates promotional egg cups for Easter to include with gift baskets of their famous chocolate eggs, and Christmas mugs to match with their hot chocolate blends.

Laura Secord Egg Cups

Laura Secord Christmas Mug

The Laura Secord Company was founded in 1913 and named for the Canadian Heroine of the War of 1812, Laura Secord.

Airline advertising items are highly collectible, especially for those companies that have closed or have merged with other airlines.

Wardair Canada Flight Bag

Wardair Pilot Teddy Bear by Dakin

Wardair International Ltd was originally incorporated in 1953 as a bush charter airline based in the Northwest Territories Canada. The name was changed in 1962 to Wardair Canada Ltd and it became a public company in 1967. Canadian Airlines acquired Wardair in 1989 and operation as Wardair ceased in 1990.

This cute little 7 inch pilot teddy bear was issued in 1987 by Dakin.