How Wheaties Affected The 1936 Olympics
Publishers Note: It is with great sadness that we learned of the recent passing of one of our most popular contributors, Harriet Wallis. This is one of her many articles we are republishing this season.
The Breakfast of Champions Kept Champion Ski Jumper Alf Engen From Competing.
Wheaties Ad 1936, Courtesy of Alan Engen
Legendary extreme athlete Alf Engen, known as the greatest all-around skier ever, was a champion soccer player, skier and ski jumper. During the 1930s, he set ski jumping world records. He helped design and establish more than 30 ski areas in the western United States. And he’s fondly remembered for pioneering deep powder skiing techniques and for his ski school at Alta.
But world champion Alf Engen was banned from competing in the 1936 Olympics because of a Wheaties breakfast cereal box.
It was just the fourth time that countries faced off against each other in wintertime Olympics. Competition included just four sports: bobsleigh, ice hockey, skating, and skiing. Twenty eight countries sent their best athletes to the IV Olympic Winter Games.
As background, Engen came from Norway to the United States in the 1920s, and he played professional soccer. By the 1930s, he was acclaimed for his ski jumping feats, he joined a ski jumping team, and he soon won 16 national ski jumping titles. And his jumps set world records. He also won national titles in all four ski disciplines: ski jumping, cross country, downhill, and slalom skiing.
Alf circa 1933, Courtesy of Alan Engen
Also in the 1930s, radio was the mass media communication method of the era. There was no television. People used their imaginations to create pictures from the words they heard.
But another form of mass media was taking hold: cereal boxes. Until then, breakfast cereal had to be cooked, but when food manufacturers invented cereal that could be eaten right from the box, they faced a marketing dilemma. How could they convince families to switch from cooked cereal to this newfangled ready-to-eat cereal? A cereal box sitting on the breakfast table with pictures of all-star athletes would be the marketing device. And unlike radio, the images were right there on the box.
Four athletes appeared on the Wheaties box—Bob Kessler, basketball star; Mike Karakas, champion hockey player with the Chicago Blackhawks; women’s speed skating champion Kit Klein; and famed skier Alf Engen.
Meanwhile, Engen became an American citizen. In 1935, at the U. S. Olympic Ski Jumping Finals held at classic Ecker Hill, he out-jumped everyone. He was immediately named as a member of the U.S. Winter Olympic Ski Jumping Team which would compete in the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
But just before he was scheduled to leave, Avery Brundage, president of the International Olympic Committee and a zealous supporter of amateurism, ousted Engen from the team because his picture had appeared on the Wheaties box. He declared that Engen’s image on the cereal box made him a professional, not an amateur athlete.
“Engen said he didn’t remember getting any money from the cereal company, ‘Just a lot of Wheaties. I think I gave everyone in Salt Lake City free Wheaties.'”
Alf with trophies, courtesy of Alan Engen
Ironically, shortly after the Olympics, Engen jumped against—and he beat—both the gold and silver medalists from the Olympic Games, Norwegian gold medalist Birger Ruud and Swedish silver medalist Sven Eriksson.
The remarkable skiing Engen family is the only family to have four family member in the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame: Alf, his two brothers Sverre and Corey, and his son Alan.
Alan lives on in his father’s tradition. He’s a champion skier and athlete as well as an accomplished scholar, author, and historian. He carries on the Engen tradition of serving the skiing community.
Alan dreamed of displaying hundreds of Alf’s ski trophies and memorabilia for the public. The dream grew into the $10.5 million Alf Engen Ski Museum at the Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. Visitors can also learn about avalanches, sit in a real bobsled, try their knack at interactive ski jumping, and more. The museum was funded entirely by private donations, including donations from Utah’s famed and philanthropic Quinney and Eccles families. Visit and enjoy the museum when you’re in Utah.
Alf in flight, circa 1936, courtesy Alan Engen
Yes, it’s the famous Air Car, a sui generis tram that operated at Mt. Snow, VT, from around the mid-60s to the mid-70s. It “flew” directly over Fountain Mountain, connecting the Snow Lake Lodge to the ski area. Legend has it that Mt. Snow developer Walt Schoenknecht had back problems and didn’t like taking off his skis. So the Air Car, along with the Bubble Chairlift, accommodated him and, we bet, lots of other skiers. Skis-on “gondolas” were an innovation, and Walt was a leader in coming up with ideas like the Air Car and Bubble Chair that made Mt. Snow unique.
Yes, Lucille Ball visiting the 
This sculpture depicts a sport poised at a turning point on the edge of change. Soon, metal and synthetics would become standard in ski construction in place of wood that had been in use for more than 4,000 years. Pioneering skiers used a single wooden pole. By the early 1900s, two poles were in fashion. The shafts were often made from bamboo until superior poles of a light metal alloy were developed. Higher, plastic ski boots featuring buckles marked the passing of lace-up leather boots.
This is a glimpse of the famous Winter Park ski train that has recently shut down after 69 years of service. Ski trains were very popular with skiers from metropolitan areas on both coasts and the Rockies during the 30s and 40s. But, with roads and interstates, the trains became unprofitable. According to the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum, the ski train that brought Denver citizens to the mountains was one of the few that survived.
Mystery Glimpse has stumped the collective hive mind for the first time. No, not Stein Eriksen’s older brother, but good guess.
