Podcast Summary

Overview

In this episode of the New Books Network, host Dr. Miranda Melcher interviews Dr. Kathryn (Casey) Dolan about her book "Breakfast Cereal: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2023). The conversation offers a rich exploration of how breakfast cereals, from ancient porridges to technicolored boxed staples, became central to global food culture. The episode discusses the origins, evolution, industrialization, marketing, cultural significance, and future of breakfast cereal, interweaving history, technology, literature, and personal anecdotes.

Introduction: Author and Project Origins

• Personal Introduction (02:42)
  Dr. Dolan shares that she is an American literature professor interested in the intersection of food studies and storytelling.
• The book originated from her curiosity about connections between the 19th-century health food movement (think Kellogg and Post) and the "granola" associations of the 1960s counterculture.
• Initially intended as an academic article, the project expanded as she uncovered links across eras and found the cereal story unexpectedly vibrant and fun.

“How is it that the 1960s was… hippies are called granola or something. Where does this come from? And so that was how I got started.” – Dr. Dolan [04:32]

The Ancient Origins of Cereal and Porridge

Cereal and Civilization (05:04)

• Porridges based on regional grains—barley, wheat (Einkorn, Emmer), rice (congee), maize (corn)—were vital to the Neolithic Revolution and the dawn of settled societies.
• The invention of pots and storage containers enabled daily breakfasts and food preservation.
• All major civilizations developed their own version of porridge as a core sustaining food.

"Everything we think of in terms of how civilization developed was because of these cereal grains... That's the Neolithic revolution right there." – Dr. Dolan [07:21]

From Hot to Cold: The Advent of Modern Cereal (09:19)

• The leap from ancient hot porridges to cold boxed cereals is explored.
• James Caleb Jackson (Danville, NY, 1863): Invented "Granula," a twice-baked grain product that needed overnight soaking—a health spa exclusive, not widely popular.
• John Harvey Kellogg adapted the idea, creating "Granola" (after changing the name to avoid litigation with Jackson), which was a bit more palatable but still very health-focused.

The Rise of the Breakfast Cereal Industry

Kellogg, Post, and Corporate Rivalries (14:28)

• John Harvey Kellogg (Battle Creek Sanitarium) innovates in food science and, with his brother W.K. Kellogg, develops flaked cereals—patenting "flaked cereals and process for preparing same" in 1894 (the birth of Corn Flakes).
• Patients/visitors to the sanitarium could buy the cereal, which later led to demand beyond the spa setting.

“WK Kellogg would sign every box of cereal because... they were the original and everyone else was a cheat, basically.” – Dr. Dolan [20:54]

• CW Post, after benefiting from the Kelloggs’ health regime, essentially copies the concept, starts a rival spa and cereal company, and launches "Post Cereal."
• A fierce legal and marketing rivalry ensues between Kellogg and Post, shaping the commercial cereal industry.

Marketing Magic and Cultural Dominance (22:22)

• Cereal’s success is as much about marketing as product:
  • Quaker Oats introduced the first trademarked mascot (the Quaker figure) in the 1870s, implying trust and safety.
  • Packaging, color, and design became key. Slogans, games, and prizes inside the box all emerged as sales tools.
• Post leads in marketing innovation:
  • Adds recipe books and stories into cereal boxes.
  • Massive advertising budgets; e.g., in 1896, spent $1,000 on ads and made $260,000 the following year.
• Serial mascots and advertising:
  • "Sonny Jim" of Force Cereal (1902) was among the first mascots, launching the tradition continued by Tony the Tiger, Snap, Crackle, Pop, etc.
• Cereal companies have stayed on the marketing cutting edge, adapting to radio, TV, social media, and pop-up events.

"People invented new ways to advertise because of breakfast cereals." – Dr. Dolan [22:24]

International and Technological Expansion

Global Spread and Adaptation (35:21)

• US cereal brands went global quickly, especially to port cities: South Africa, Cairo, Hong Kong, and beyond.
• While the big five (Corn Flakes, Grape Nuts, Shredded Wheat, Weet Bix/WheataBix, Cheerios) remain dominant, local preferences and variants emerged—e.g., Weet Bix in Australia/New Zealand, Oreo O’s in South Korea.
• The field became a "Wild West," with patent wars leading to innovative new shapes and flavors, and a broadening of what 'cereal' could mean.

"You really can't patent cereal just as cereal. You can patent one very particular version of it... So it really is kind of the Wild West." – Dr. Dolan [37:32]

Cereal in Culture, Literature, and Art

Food in Stories and Symbolism (41:51)

• Ancient and modern stories, songs, and rhymes use porridge/cereal as symbolism for comfort and home.
  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears, "Pease Porridge Hot," and congee in Dream of the Red Chamber are classic examples.
  • Saki’s satirical story “Filboyd the Story of a Mouse…” (1911) poked fun at the moralizing marketing of cereals.
  • Andy Warhol’s installations of Kellogg’s boxes furthered cereal’s place as a pop-cultural icon.
• Cereal is comfort food, not just for breakfast, but for illness and care.
• Festivals abound, from Battle Creek's cereal parades to Scotland's Golden Spurtle for best porridge, and Buddhist kanji festivals in China.

"...the sense of homey, loveful, you know, kind of, I don't know, Hygge kind of a feeling that happens with these porridges." – Dr. Dolan [44:00]

The Present and Future of Breakfast Cereal

Current Trends and Market Shifts (51:32)

• Pre-pandemic: declining cereal sales—breakfast seen as too time-consuming; rise of cereal/muesli bars.
• Cereal brands lobby heavily to expand into regions with savory breakfast traditions (esp. Asia-Pacific), using product placement and adapting flavors.
• COVID-19 briefly reversed sales trends as people returned to home breakfast routines.
• Nostalgia keeps classics (Corn Flakes, Cheerios, etc.) popular over high-sugar varieties.
• Cereal companies strategically reposition cereal as an anytime snack, especially in college settings—cereal becomes a “fourth meal.”

"If cereal can take the place of...a meal and it's very simple... that's one of the beauties... even a kid can do it." – Dr. Dolan [57:08]

Imaginings of Cereal’s Future (54:00)

• Sci-fi and post-apocalyptic literature/film envision future food as utilitarian (porridges, pills), referencing The Matrix and Soylent Green.
• The trend toward “full circle”: from sustaining hot porridges for laborers to cold cereal as omnipresent quick fuel for modern work.

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On marketing innovation:

  "People invented new ways to advertise because of breakfast cereals." (Dr. Dolan, 22:24)

• On Andy Warhol's faux cereal boxes:

  "[He] did installations where those boxes would just kind of get piled up in a corner in a museum...because Andy Warhol." (Dr. Dolan, 46:07)

• On COVID-era grape nuts scarcity:

  “There became a robust black market trade... you could buy them for like $100 on eBay, which is strange because these are... would you pay $100 for that? Probably not!” (Dr. Dolan, 62:27)

• On the business of nostalgia:

  “The older ones are the ones that remain the popular ones and the most, the favorites. We like the novelty of the monstrous cereals...but we don't actually want to eat them." (Dr. Dolan, 64:19)

Behind the Scenes & Surprising Discoveries

• Breakfast as technological innovation:
  The very concept of “breakfast” as a meal, requiring storage and cooking gear, is a relatively recent development.
• COVID-19’s impact:
  Pandemic routines led to a temporary revival in cereal sales and created temporary shortages—especially of classics like Grape Nuts.
• Silly naming conventions:
  • "Grape Nuts" contains neither grapes nor nuts: the name comes from "grape sugar" (maltose) and the nutty flavor of toasted wheat.
• Persistent popularity of basics:
  • Despite the explosion of sugary or novelty cereals, long-standing staples (Corn Flakes, Cheerios, Weetabix) remain market leaders.

Future Directions & Closing

• Dr. Dolan's next project:
  Building on “Breakfast Cereal,” Dr. Dolan is investigating representations of food in imagined futures, particularly in science fiction (working title: Imagining Tomorrow’s Bread).

Useful Timestamps

• 02:42 – Dr. Dolan introduces herself and origin of the project
• 05:04 – Ancient origins: porridges, agriculture, and civilization
• 09:19 – The leap from hot porridges to boxed, cold cereal
• 14:28 – John Harvey Kellogg, W.K. Kellogg, and C.W. Post rivalry
• 22:22 – The centrality of marketing and mascot innovation
• 35:21 – Global expansion, adaptation, and patent wars
• 41:51 – Cereal in literature, stories, and satire
• 51:32 – Cereal’s present and possible future(s)
• 59:55 – Surprising facts & COVID-19’s effect on cereal sales
• 65:12 – Next research directions and future books

Final Thought

This episode is richly informative and engaging—illuminating how a humble breakfast food became a global juggernaut, shaped by invention, rivalry, marketing, and nostalgia. Dr. Dolan brings warm humor and deep research to a topic that, as it turns out, involves far more than just what's in your breakfast bowl.