The Modern Breakfast Staple That Was Born In A Victorian Sanitarium

Wellness isn't just a modern-day buzzword; it has its roots in the Victorian era, when the places we think of as spas and health resorts today got their start. Sanitariums were popular at the turn of the century to treat people with chronic illnesses before the advent of antibiotics. Among the popular treatments at many sanitariums were hydrotherapy, fresh air, and a healthy diet. One surprising fact: The breakfast cereal many Americans start their days with was created at one of these sanitariums in the 1890s.

Cereal became a breakfast staple thanks to two brothers who are household names today. In 1876, Dr. John Kellogg took over the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. The Seventh-day Adventist Church had founded the sanitarium a decade earlier, and Kellogg was a devout member. The teachings of the church and Kellogg's practices at the sanitarium, which he called "biologic living," promoted spending time outdoors, exercise, avoiding tobacco and alcohol, and a vegetarian diet as tools for healing and preventing illness. In 1880, Dr. Kellogg's brother, Will Kellogg, began working at the sanitarium as the business manager, which by then had become a world-famous health resort. The brothers worked together to develop healthful diets for Battle Creek's patients and wanted to introduce healthier breakfasts rather than the fatty, greasy, salty foods typically consumed at the time.

The Kelloggs developed their first breakfast cereal by combining flour, oats, and cornmeal and baking the mixture twice. The early version, in biscuit form, was so hard that a patient broke a tooth biting into one. They later smashed it into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat. According to Kellogg's itself, a batch of cereal dough was mistakenly left out overnight, but when rolled out and baked, it produced large, flavorful flakes. The Kelloggs founded the Sanitas Food Company and opened its first factory in Battle Creek, making breakfast cereals that use whole grains. The cereals were sold by mail order across the country to patients and ex-patients of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Will Kellogg kept experimenting with the recipe and eventually discovered that corn was the best grain to use for light, crisp cereal flakes.

Will was a shrewd businessman and wanted to expand the business to sell corn flakes to the masses, while his brother wanted to keep sales exclusive to patients. Though legal battles later ensued, in 1906, Dr. Kellogg agreed to sell the business to his brother Will, who hired a cadre of employees to create the corn flakes we know today. After being renamed the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1909, Will started advertising his cereals, and sales boomed. The sales led to a multinational expansion, creating every cereal brand owned by Kellogg's. The next time you sit down to a bowl of cereal, you'll know the origins of one of the world's most popular breakfasts.