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19 Things You Didn’t Know About Lucky Charms In Honor Of National Cereal Day

By Tabitha Britt
Published on: 16:26 PST, Mar 6, 2016

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, so what better way to celebrate March 7, National Cereal Day, than to start the morning off with a bowl of Lucky Charms?

  1. Lucky Charms was one of the original frankenfoods

Lucky Charms was invented through chance after a few crazy food scientists experimented with Cheerios and Circus Peanuts marshmallow candy.

  1. Lucky the Leprechaun wasn’t always in charge

For a weird, but brief, moment in breakfast history, Lucky the Leprechaun was impeached from mascot office. In 1975, General Mills tested out Waldo the Wizard, but we all know how that worked out.

  1. The original Lucky Charms marshmallow roster wasn’t as ridiculous as it is today

Today, Lucky Charms have marshmallow rainbows, hearts, balloons, moons, shooting stars, horseshoes, hourglasses, and clover hats whereas the original box of Lucky Charms had yellow moons, orange stars, pink hearts, and green clovers.

  1. Lucky isn’t just a leprechaun on a cereal box

Arthur Anderson, who played the voice of Lucky for 29 years, is an actual actor. His credits include Law & Order, Midnight Cowboy, and Courage the Cowardly Dog.

  1. You can apparently buy just the charms in Lucky Charms

General Mills released a limited-edition marshmallow-only box after receiving “countless calls, emails, tweets, and Facebook posts” from fans begging for the cereal-free cereal.

  1. Lucky Charms are basically just sugar

Lucky Charms is 37 percent sugar by weight.

  1. Lucky Charms made their debut in 1962

John Holahan created Lucky Charms in 1962.

  1. But the cereal didn’t hit the shelves until a few years later

It wasn’t until 1964 that Lucky Charms made it to the shelves of supermarkets.

  1. Lucky a.k.a Sir Charms was created in 1963

And his birthday is on, you guessed it, St. Patrick’s Day.

  1. Famous taglines of Lucky’s include:

“Frosted Lucky Charms, they’re magically delicious!,” “They’re Always After Me Lucky Charms!,” “You’ll Never Get Me Lucky charms!”

  1. The marshmallows are actually called something weird

The tasty charms in this sugary cereal are known as “Marbits.”

  1. Lucky Charms weren’t always sugar coated

It wasn’t until 1967 that sugar frosting was added to Lucky Charms.

  1. Each marshmallow represents one of Lucky’s powers

Hearts – the power to bring things to life. Shooting Stars – power to fly. Horseshoes – power to speed things up. Clovers – luck. Blue Moons – power of invisibility. Rainbows – instantaneous travel from place to place. Balloons – power to make things float. Hourglass – power to control time.

  1. Chocolate Lucky Charms were a thing

In 2005 General Mills released a chocolate version of Lucky charms.

  1. Only one marshmallow has stuck throughout the entire Lucky Charms journey

The heart marshmallow.

  1. General Mills gave away free trees

In 1991, General Mills gave away a free tree with proof-of-purchase mailed in from the back of the box.

  1. The oats have never changed shape

Unlike the ever evolving marshmallows, the oats have always stayed the exact same shape.

  1. Pentatonix recorded a birthday song for Lucky

In 2014, Lucy Charms celebrated its 50th birthday.

  1. Limited edition marshmallows included:

A whale-shaped marshmallow (1986), a green pine tree-shaped marshmallow (1990), a combined version of the star and balloon shape marshmallows (1991), sprinkle-covered marshmallows (1994), modified moon shape marshmallows with the addition of the yellow curve line (1999), a new Sparkling Rainbow (2000), the addition of swirled marshmallows (2010), two new rainbow marshmallows (2013)

[Photo Illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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