It takes up a whole aisle in the grocery store. There are multitudes of different flavors, shapes, and colors. Today's Wannaskan Almanac is looking at the history of breakfast cereals.
What we call breakfast cereal...a processed grain product served cold, usually with milk...was first created in 1863 by a man named James Caleb Jackson. He made a product called "granula" out of bran and graham. These cereal nuggets never really caught on, mainly because they had to be soaked overnight just to be soft enough to eat. Read more about it here. This cereal, and many others after it, was created as an alternative to the cholesterol filled egg and meat breakfasts that were eaten. Spa owners (called sanatoriums at the time) pitched these vegetarian breakfasts as a healthy alternative.
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| The first American Cereal |
In 1879 a cereal called Wheatena was introduced by George H. Hoyt. This was the first cereal to be available in a cereal box. Up until then cereal was sold by the pound from barrels. You won't be able to find Granula anymore, but Wheatena is still available. Check it out here.
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| Still available today |
Next came a cereal and a name that you will probably recognize. Granola was introduced in 1881 by a man named John Harvey Kellogg. He initially called his cereal granula but was sued for copyright infringement by Hoyt. Kellogg changed the name of his cereal to granola, and it is still available today in many different varieties.
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| Partially digested? |
In 1889 a new cereal was introduced. This was one of the first wheat based cereals. Pettijohn's was created and manufactured in Chicago, Illinois. The box, however, seems to indicate a different part of the country. Pettijohn's was bought out by the Quaker Oats Company and is no longer available.
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| For those who struggle with oats |
In 1890 Henry Perky of Denver unveiled a new cereal that is still available today. Shredded Wheat was shown at the 1893 Chicago World Columbian Exposition and immediately took off in popularity. It was made for a long time by Nabisco, but is now manufactured by Post Consumer Brands.
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| Still popular today |
Other cereals that came out before 1900 include Grape Nuts and Corn Flakes. These cereals are still available today. What kind of cereal do you like? Comment below.
Grapenuts always did it for me until Granola became the breakfast of champion flower children in the 60s. I still like to make my own when I have the time. I just googled the word granola and see that originally it was a cereal for invalids and promoted as "thoroughly cooked and partially digested." And, doesn't that sound appealing!
ReplyDeleteLoved this piece, Mr. Hot Coco, and is it right to assume that Coco puffs is your fav?
I am more of a frosted flakes kind of guy.
DeleteThe layers of biscuits in the Shredded Wheat box used to be separated by sheets of cardboard that had woodcraft advice printed on them. I collected them all. They'll come in handy if I move to Dystopia, if I can find remember what I did with them, that is.
ReplyDelete