Collection Of 37 Straight Arrow "Injun-Uity" Cards

National Biscuit Company (Nabisco Shredded Wheat)

Publication: Privately printed, 1949, 1950, NP

A collection of 37 Straight Arrow "Injun-Unity" cards, 18 cards from 1949 Book One (to include the cover) and 19 cards from 1950 Book Two. "Straight Arrow was a fictional American Indian character. He was portrayed as a Comanche Indian orphan raised by whites as "Steve Adams" (same initials as "Straight Arrow"). Each Straight Arrow tale had Steve reverting to his true "secret Indian identity" in order to right some wrong, often committed against the Indians. In these efforts Steve was assisted by his golden palomino horse, Fury, and his grizzled side-kick, Packy McCloud. Straight Arrow first made his first appearances almost simultaneously on a radio program and on "Injun-uity cards". These two projects were tightly coordinated projects backed by the National Biscuit Company and its advertising agency, McCann-Erickson. After a six month test-run on a local radio station in California, the radio series and the publication of the Injun-uity cards ran parallel with each other from 1949 to 1952. Nabisco was the sole advertiser on all the radio programs. Shredded Wheat was an American breakfast cereal made by the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). Each portion of Shredded Wheat was a loosely-woven, pillow-shaped biscuit about 10x6x3 cm in size. A package of Shredded Wheat contained 12 such biscuits, packed in four layers with 3 biscuits in each layer. Separating these layers were three gray cardboard dividers. Starting in 1949, "Straight Arrow's secrets of Indian lore and know-how" were printed on these cardboard dividers in an effort to increase the popularity of Shredded Wheat among children. Fred L. Meagher of Magazine Enterprises was the illustrator of all these cards. These cards were dubbed "Injun-uity Cards." The word, "Injun-uity" is a play on words, combining the word, "Injun," (a slangy, uneducated pronunciation of the word, "Indian") and the word "ingenuity" meaning the ability to do things in clever ways. One topic of this "Indian lore and know-how" was dealt with on each card - either making Indian-style artifacts or showing correct ways of doing various outdoor activities. The cards were published in 4 series called "books." Cards from each individual Book were included in Shredded Wheat packages for a period of about 9 months." In this collection the following cards are present from Book One (1949): Cover, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31 and 32 = 17 cards. The following cards are present from Book Two (1950): 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35 and 36 = 19 cards. Subjects include Indian tools, bow stringing and bow care, horsemanship, Indian leather craft, Indian belt, canoe carry, bird shelter and weather vane, Indian smoke signals, animal trap, Indian gates, Indian lance, distance signals, papoose carriage, orientation, tracking, etc. Light soiling to some cards and with light wear to edges. Very good.