These days, it's so easy to pour cold cereal into a bowl, add milk, and create breakfast in a snap, crackle, and pop. But when the first manufactured breakfast cereal debuted back in 1863, it had little in common with products like Rice Krispies, Cheerios, and Frosted Flakes.
Back then, Dr. James Caleb Jackson believed that a wide range of ailments were caused by improper digestion. So he created Granula (no, not granola) for patients at the health spa he ran in upstate New York. He baked graham flour into cakes that he crumbled and baked a second time. His creation was only edible when it was soaked in milk overnight.
The most important meal of the day:
- The idea of cold cereal appealed to “pure food” advocate John Harvey Kellogg. In 1875, he introduced his own "granula," using wheat flour, oatmeal, and cornmeal. After Jackson sued, Kellogg renamed his cereal Granola.
- Kellogg and his brother, William, went on to create a cereal empire that still bears their name. They later invented the cereal flake, among other breakfast innovations.
- Before cereals hit the scene, the ideal American breakfast was served hot (and full of cholesterol), consisting of eggs, bacon, sausage and beef (or chicken), with sides of biscuits, toast, butter and jam.
