Laffee (The Clown) - Kelloggs Corn Flakes False Faces mask (1953) - backside

Step right up! Here’s Laffee the Clown, one of the most recognizable characters from the 1953 Kellogg’s Corn Flakes “False Faces” promotion. This series is historically important because it marked one of Kellogg’s earliest large-scale marketing campaigns using cereal-box cutout masks. Kids could collect multiple characters — devils, witches, animals, and clowns like Laffee — all designed for play right off the back of the box.

Clowns were a staple of mid-century popular culture, appearing in circuses, television, and children’s products, making Laffee a central figure in the set. Masks like this rarely survived intact, as most were cut out, used, and discarded. That makes this vintage survivor a wonderful piece of 1950s advertising ephemera and cereal-box history.

From the 1953 Kellogg’s False Faces set
Character: Laffee the Clown
Measures approx. 8" × 10"
Issued on the back panel of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cereal box