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IN THE BEGINNING (1898-1933) |
The original Snap, Crackle & Pop were born in 1898 to the famous Irving vaudeville family. Along with their brother Pow, they first went on stage at the age of five. Originally doing a tumbling act, they eventually turned to a sound effect routine where Snap would imitate machines, Crackle would do animals, Pop would imitate weather and Pow would just yell “Pow” as loud as he could. Even with the limited appeal, the brothers eventually worked their way up to the Orpheum Circuit where they spent many years. In 1932 the makers of a new cereal, Kelloggs, were looking for someone to act as a spokesman. They had originally approached Bob Hope, but he turned out to be too expensive. They then tried George Burns & Gracie Allen, then Fred Allen, then Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers, Edgar Bergen, Rose Marie, Fred Allen, Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, Fred Allen and some kid who took the tickets on Tuesday. Finally, tired of being asked, Fred Allen finally said “Why don’t you get those stupid kids who make those noises, I hear they work cheap.” So finally the Irving kids were approached and a deal was struck. At first no one could figure out what form the commercials would take. They tried to work within the confines of the kids sound effect routine, but in the end most of what they did was edited out, with only their names, Snap, Crackle, Pop & Pow, remaining. |
RISE TO FAME (1933-1049) |
Posing for newspaper and magazine ads proved easier. Since the boys were born with a rare condition that elongated their ears and noses the Kelloggs people  decided to dress them up as elf like creatures, each with their own personality. Snap was a baker, Crackle was a regular elf, Pop was a conductor and Pow was some sort of space elf. The ads caught on and soon the Irving's were living well, some would say too well. Snap would spend most of his free time at the races, always betting on any horse with the letters “K” or “Q” in their names. Crackle found himself a regular member of the famed Algonquin Round Table, which left him alienating himself from the others. Pop decided he would become the first person to accidentally cross the U.S. in a hot air balloon. And then there was Pow. Pow loved fast cars, which put him at odds with the law many times. In 1942 Pow crashed his car in Hollywood at the famous Dead Mans’ Curve. He was lucky to survive, but in the months it took to recuperate he became addicted to pain pills and Candy Stripers. He began showing up for recording sessions late, if at all, and in 1949 Kellogg's had had enough. Pow was out and Snap, Crackle & Pop went on without their kid brother. As a sad endnote, Pow went onto a successful career as owner of a chain of Laundromats, but in 1973 killed himself under highly suspicious circumstances. The police say it was auto-erotic asphyxiation, but many claim he was killed because of bad gambling debts. |
THE AGE OF TV (1950-1960) |
| Of course by then they had made the transition from radio & print ads to Television. It was also around this time that the people at Kelloggs decided the whole “elf” thing was played through, so using a stipulation in their contract, Snap, Crackle & Pop were forced to go through massive reconstruction surgery, shortening their ears and chins. There is an urban legend that Pop had his penis enlarged, but he has always denied this. It was in 1952 that Snap became entangled in his first of many paternity suits. Sally Ann McCardle claimed her little girl was Snaps’ daughter, but even though the girl had long ears Snap prevailed. He would not always be so lucky. In 1954, Pop had given up his ballooning and had now decided to be the first person to shovel through to China using a spork. Crackle had moved on from betting the horses, to owning horses, then to a short and embarrassing fling with a horse, then back to owning, and finally deciding to give up the horses and importing Emus for, what he thought, would be the next great sport. He declared bankruptcy in 1956. The worst finally happened in June of 1958 when Pop died after a terrible cave-in 16 feet below the surface of the earth. After an appropriate mourning period Snap & Crackle started auditions and finally hired “Pop” Joe Besser. |
THE END OF AN ERA (1960-1963) |
| The group saw in the 1960’s hosting a New Years Eve television special Snap, Crackle & Popping in the New Year on ABC. Soon after they recorded an album of Do Wop favourites, having a minor hit with a cover of In The Still of the Night. In 1962 they released a second album Snap, Crackle and Pop to the movies in which they sang, snapped, hummed and in one case just breathed heavy to some of the best movie music. “Pop” Joe Besser had a top ten hit with his salsa version of the theme to The Pajama Game. With this going to his head “Pop” Joe Besser decided to go on his own, so he changed his name to Donovan and started playing folk music. Realising that their best days may be behind them, Snap and Crackle worked out the rest of their contract with Kelloggs and in 1963 retired. |
THE NEXT GENERATION (1963-1975) |
| Of course Kelloggs owned the names and images of Snap, Crackle & Pop, so they decided to find other actors to play the parts. After a worldwide audition they settled on Bob “Snap” Hunnicut, Larry “Crackle” Stiers and Robert “Pop” Kent. They had also cast young character actor Alan Alda as the new “Pow” but decided not to use him at the last minute. Kelloggs kept a close eye on their new stars, adding a morals clause into their contract, but that didn’t stop Snap from being arrested several times protesting the Vietnam war. Even going so far as to record an album of protest songs titled Snap Against the War.”  Pop was getting into a different sort of trouble. After a slight cold, Pop saw the light and became a born again Christian. He was so militant about his new faith that he would sometimes hold up filming for hours while preaching. Snap on the other hand, kept to himself. Being a dedicated family man, he would spend his free time writing poetry under the pseudonym “Robert Zimmerman” until, in 1970, he was caught in an undercover investigation trying to buy coke from the Cocoa-Puffs mascot Sonny. He was sentenced to rehab and community service. In 1972 Pop joined up with fellow evangelical Jim Bakker and started up the Praise the Lord religious television show. By the end of 1975, tensions on the set had finally blown up, with Snap attacking Pop and Crackle relapsing on his drug problem. Kelloggs decided enough is enough and fired the three of them and started casting for another generation. |
THE NEXT GENERATION AFTER THAT (1975-1990) |
| Kelloggs held an extensive audition process, eventually settling on Martin “Snap” Poston, Jay “Crackle” Tenowich and Robin “Pop” Williams. Taking a cue from other TV shows, the Rice Krispies commercials started acknowledging modern day problems, with Snap getting a divorce, Crackle moving into a multi-racial The late 1970’s were a peaceful time for the group, and the 1980’s seemed to be going the same until a 1984 DUI exposed Crackles drinking problem. Digging deeper, a National Exquire reporter discovered that Crackle was a part of a cult-like wife swapping group. In 1985 Pop started looking for different roles and ended up off, off, off Broadway in a failed revival of Oh Calcutta. Snap, on the other hand, was donating ten per cent of his money into the Communist Party of America, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance and the Salt Lake Gopher Sanctuary. In 1989 Pop led a revolt against Kelloggs, demanding to be giving a raise. Kelloggs relented, but in 1985 refused to renew their contracts. And so the search began anew. |
THE NEXT GENERATION AFTER THE NEXT GENERATION AFTER THAT (1990-CURRENT) |
The next group was found in the most unlikely of places. Three of the original  Snaps illegitimate grandchildren auditioned using their grandfathers old vaudeville routine. Seeing a chance for publicity, they were hired and filmed their first commercial in time for Christmas 1990. Seeking to catch up with the times the commercials of this era involved current music, break dancing and a temporary change of costume to parachute pants and lots of gold medallions. In 1995, Kelloggs decided it was time to bring the trio to the big screen, and so in the fall shooting began on Snap, Crackle & Pop in Invaders from the Milky Way.” The script, written by Graham Yost, had crunchy aliens come to earth and only Snap, Crackle & Pop, with special super powers, can save everyone. Unfortunately, the films 1996 debut at the Canne Film Festival was a disaster and every known copy was burned (Note: You can find a copy of the movie on the internet if you know where to look.) Not to be deterred, almost immediately filming began on the movie Snap, Crackle & Pop meet Snappette, Cracklette and Popette, A romantic comedy that introduced the world to female versions of the trio. The movie was much hyped, especially for the reported sex scene between Pop & Cracklette, but this time the movie was canned before anyone saw it. Getting back into the commercial business, they threw themselves into their work, probably too much as Pop’s wife left him in 1998. Today the modern Snap, Crackle & Pop are working their magic over a new generation and next year they are hosting the first annual Snap, Crackle & Pop Lactose Intolerance Telethon over Arbour Day weekend. |
