Today in 1906: Kellogg's Was Founded as Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company
All photos credit: Kellogg’s
Way back before Frosted Flakes were "gr-r-reat!” and we just had to have our Pops, W. K. Kellogg founded the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Michigan. Except he didn’t originally call it the Kellogg Company; he originally named it the “Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company.”
What a mouthful! According to the 2002 tome “Notable American Philanthropists,” by Robert T. Grimm, the name change came six months later, after the fledgling company’s factory burned the ground. (Now that’s what we call “toasted.”)
Kellogg decided to rebuild, but perhaps the incident left a bad taste in his mouth, and he felt a new name was in order. After he rechristened his company Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company, the breakfast cereal game was never the same again. (Today, the company is colloquially known, of course, as Kellogg’s.)
Fun fact: Some of the company’s early ads were quite cheeky. The one below, which dates to 1908, dared housewives to wink at their grocer—quite the scandalous proposition at the turn of the last century. According to Grimm, those brazen enough would receive a free sample of Corn Flakes.
Who knew Corn Flakes were so shocking back in the day?
