You’re familiar with the elves, Snap! Crackle! and Pop! Their onomatopoetic names match the very cereal they’ve repped since the ’30s—Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. In the years after that, the trio has withstood the influx of cartoon competitors like the Trix Rabbit, Lucky the Leprechaun, the Cookie Crisp thieves, Cap'n Crunch and many more. Lost in the shuffle, however, was a fourth Rice Krispies elf named Pow! His short life is a time-capsule of an era when everyone was dreaming big.

Snap, Crackle and Pop have been around since 1932 and pocketed their creator, Vernon Grant, a cool $250,000. They even have a lesser known fouth ‘band member’ called Pow who made a brief appearance in the 1950’s. Becka Keeley History. The fourth derivative of an object’s displacement (the rate of change of jerk) is known as snap (also known as jounce), the fifth derivative (the rate of change of snap) is crackle, and – you’ve guessed it – the sixth derivative of displacement is pop. As far as I can tell, none of these are commonly used.

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The history of the three (and for a moment, four) Kellogg's pitchelves begins in 1928 when the cereal first hit shelves and was marketed on radio programs for the way they “merrily snap, crackle and pop in a bowl of milk.” When artist Vernon Grant heard one of the jingles, he sketched a creature for each sound and sent his work to an ad agency in Philadelphia which was handling the Kellogg’s campaign at the time. (Later Kellogg’s worked with Leo Burnett Co., the same ad agency responsible for major characters like the Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger, and the Keebler Elves). Grant referred to the trio as “my children.” Snap! appeared solo on the side of cereal boxes at first and was joined by his brothers in 1941. But they didn’t look like the elves you see today—at first they resembled boyish gnomes and all three had chef hats, as pictured in this 1939 animated short:

Today you’ll find the oldest of the bunch, Snap! in a chef’s hat; Crackle! the middle brother, with a knit beanie (hipsters rejoice!); and Pop! the youngest, tipping his marching band cap.

From 1948 through the mid ’50s, the brothers sponsored the popular children’s program “The Howdy Doody Show.” But in early 1950, Kellogg’s marketers snuck in a fourth friend, Pow. The company said in an email to Smithsonian.com, “[Pow] appeared in two TV commercials. The spaceman character was meant to exude the ‘power of whole grain rice.’ He was never considered an official character.”

These two scans of the original 1955 storyboard dug up from the Kellogg’s archives sketch out two versions of a 60-second commercial introducing the space-man:

In both versions, Pow flies in on what the document calls a helicopter, but what looks like what we’d consider to be a hovercraft. 'Pow means power and power's nice! Rice Krispies power from whole grain rice!,” the voice over announces.

The weirdest thing about the space-helmet-wearing elf? He doesn’t speak, he just points at things. The voice over continues: 'Now Pow doesn't say much..he just goes ahead and does things..like putting power into every..lightweight spoonful of Kellogg's Rice Krispies!'

Many questions remain unanswered: Why did they nix the Pow! character? From a marketing perspective, perhaps the original three brothers sounded better in a jingle? And why was he from outer space? Tim Hollis, author of “Part of a Complete Breakfast: Cereal Characters of the Baby Boom Era,” says it was common for children’s programs to include space-related characters at the time.

“There's not much to Pow! It's mostly because of the internet that he's even known at all,” Hollis says. “He was always just sort of a footnote..and at that particular time, everything was space oriented.”

Pow’s brief stint overlapped with Kellogg's sponsorship of the television program “Space Cadet” with Tom Corbett. Rice Krispies advertisements, like the one below featuring three brothers zipping around on flying saucers, tapped into the culture of the time.

“Flash Gordon,” the popular comic book series, was adapted into a live-action television show in 1954, and Disneyland, which opened in 1955, included “Tomorrowland,” a futuristic look at space travel. At the height of this Kellogg’s campaign, the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was in its nascent stages.

The company issued patches from every manned mission into space from Freedom 7 through Apollo 10 that were included as prizes. And by 1969, sugar-coated Corn Flakes went into outer space as part of the Apollo 11 space crew's breakfast during their historic mission to the moon, according to the company’s website. (The air-tight space bag of cereal is currently in storage at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum).

Pow’s two-commercial stint as an unofficial Krispies character was short-lived, but it seems the original Rice Krispies gang is doing okay for themselves: they remain the first and longest-running cartoon mascots to represent a Kellogg’s product.

Crepitus neck is the crunching, grinding, or popping sound produced when you move your neck. These sounds are indicative of the presence of air trapped in the joints or subcutaneous tissue.

The sliding of a tendon or muscle over bone can produce a cracking sound as you turn your head, though if the noise is accompanied by pain, it may be a symptom of an underlying issue. Potential complications of crepitus neck, as well as causes, symptoms, and even remedies for this condition will be explored in this article.

Arthritis of the neck: Cervical osteoarthritis (cervical spondylosis)

Cervical osteoarthritis, or cervical spondylosis, occurs mostly in middle-aged and elderly people, and is a condition where the joints of the neck begin to deteriorate due to the natural wear-and-tear associated with aging. As you age, the discs of the cervical spine lose fluid, become stiffer, and start to break down. This causes neck pain, stiffness, and crepitus due to the grinding of the bones.

Crepitus neck symptoms

Common symptoms of neck crepitus include pain when moving your neck or head, neck stiffness, and a reduced range of motion. Generally speaking, crepitus is only heard by the person experiencing it and can only be heard with the movement of the neck. Those with crepitus neck may also experience headaches, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and weakness or numbness in the upper extremities.

What causes neck cracking and popping?

The snapping or grinding of your neck may be caused by:

Synovial fluid changes. The synovial fluid between your joints lubricates movement, and when the pressure changes in this fluid, it creates gaseous bubbles. According to a 2015 study, the creation of these bubbles makes a cracking or popping sound.

Ligament or tendon movement. When tendons and ligaments move over bone, they can make a snapping sound that is heard when you move your joints.

Bone grinding. If the cartilage in the joints has worn down enough, the grinding or cracking sound you hear may be due to the bones grinding against each other.

When neck cracking and popping needs medical attention

If your crepitus neck is accompanied by any of the following factors, you should seek the advice of your doctor as it may be indicative of a more serious issue.

Snap Crackle And Pop Crossword

Pain and/or swelling. This may indicate the presence of inflammation and osteoarthritis.

Snap Crackle And Pop Band

Recent injury. If your crepitus occurs after a recent accident of injury, it may mean that there has been damage to the structure of you neck.

Frequent or constant. If the cracking and grinding noise can be recreated every time you move your head/neck, then it may be telling of an issue with joint function.

Recent surgery. After surgery on the cervical spine, crepitus may occur weeks later. While these new sounds may not mean anything serious, it is important to inform your surgeon so they can assess your symptoms.

Neck cracking and popping complications

While medical literature assures us that the repeated cracking of any synovial joints—including the neck—will not increase the risk of arthritis, it may cause other complications. In rare instances, manipulation of