In 1894, Dr. John Kellogg was working as the superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan along with his brother, William Keith Kellogg. Dr. Kellogg was a ardent believer in Sylvester Graham's teachings of abstinence and the consumption of plain foods and a vegetarian diet would cut back on ill feelings, which included arousal and passion. As such, the food served to the residents of the sanitarium were vegetarian in design and basically flavorless.
On August 8th of that year, the Kellogg brothers had cooked some wheat but had to leave it as urgent matters suddenly befell them. When they returned later, they found that the wheat had gone stale. In an attempt to save it, the brothers forced it through the rollers as they normally would to create long sheets of dough. Instead they created flakes which they promptly cooked and served to the residents. To their surprise, the residents enjoyed the toasted wheat flakes. In 1895, the Kelloggs filed a patent for "Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same"
William decided to found a company in 1906, the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Company, to distribute a corn flake cereal to the masses. Originally, he wanted to add sugar to the cereal, but this created issues between the two brothers. The corn cereal hit the market first as Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes and finally, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which is the name it bears today.
Though the cereal was popular, William had the idea of offering a promotion to increase sales. Starting in 1909 and lasting until 1931, if anyone purchased two boxes of their corn flakes, they could get a small booklet (Funny Jungeland Moving Pictures Booklet) as a premium item. For 105 years, Kellogg's Corn Flakes have been a popular cereal and as such, advertising items and boxes routinely fetch in the $50+ range.
And for those wondering, the name of the green rooster on the front is Cornelius "Corny" Rooster.
Speaking of 50+... This is Virtual Vintage's 50th FACT! Thanks for reading and here's to many, many more! I'm hoping to have something awesomely special ready in the near future around the time we hit 100!
