Inspired by circus peanuts Lucky Charms cereal debuted in 1964 with bells, fish, arrowheads, clovers, and x-shaped oat pieces alongside marshmallows shaped like green clovers, pink hearts, orange stars, and yellow moons. The cereal was created by product developer John Holahan.

The cereal consists of multi-colored marshmallows and pieces of shaped pulverized oat, each resembling one of several objects or symbols associated with good luck. The packaging and marketing features a leprechaun mascot, Lucky. Lucky Charms.

Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes. Clovers and Blue Moons. Unicorns, Rainbows, and Tasty Red Balloons. Plus, crunchy, oat cereal pieces, too!

General Mills Inc., the Minneapolis-based company that makes Lucky Charms, Cheerios and other cereals, said it's aware of those reports and takes them seriously.

Different civilizations including the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians made and wore charms. The Babylonians are believed to be the first people to wear charms on a bracelet around 700 BC. Egyptians started using charms as early as 3000 BC.

Many Japanese people practice the custom of visiting a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple and receiving (that is, buying) a good-luck charm called omamori, which is said to protect the holder. Because of this tradition, Japanese people are familiar with good-luck charms.

Omamori, lucky talismans Omamori are protective amulets that people can buy from shrines. The talisman is wrapped up in a brocade bag, and it's considered bad luck to open it and peek inside. There are omamori meant as a general good luck charm, while others are very specific.

Lucky the Leprechaun Lucky the Leprechaun has been the Lucky Charms mascot since the cereal debuted in 1964. In 1975, though, he vanished, as if by magic, from the shelves of New England grocery stores. In his place, a green-cloaked wizard named Waldo suddenly appeared on boxes of Lucky Charms.

Whether you grasp such good luck charms in your palm, wear them around your neck, or mount one near your front door these talismans or amulets are meant to provide a shortcut to a better future, a warding off of evil spirits or bad forces.

General Mills Lucky Charms – Brands – Food we make - General Mills.

The FDA has closed its four-month investigation into reports of illness linked to General Mills' Lucky Charms. The department said it found no pathogen or cause behind 558 self-reported cases of illness “despite extensive testing for numerous potential microbial and chemical adulterants.”

charm, a practice or expression believed to have magic power, similar to an incantation or a spell. Charms are among the earliest examples of written literature. Among the charms written in Old English are those against a dwarf and against the theft of cattle.