National Cereal Day
Start your day off right with a bowl of crunchy goodness, complete with milk and your favorite fruits. It's breakfast time!
How do you start your morning? If you are like almost half of the people in the United States of America, you are enjoying a bowl of cereal to fuel your morning!
National Cereal Day was created to shine a laight on this favorite breakfast food. Do you know the history of cereal or do you suppose that it was always the sweet creation that we find in the supermarket aisles?
Learn About National Cereal Day
There’s a little bit of magic in every box!
Adam Rex, Cold Cereal
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and for cereal loves out there, it can be the tastiest as well!
There are so many different varieties of cereal available today. This includes the chocolate kind, the healthy kind, and the colorful kind too! You’re bound to find something that appeals to your taste buds. Pour the milk on top, and you’re good to go!
Some people even like to eat cereal dry out of the box… Each to their own! No matter what cereal you prefer, starting off the day with a bowl of cereal on National Cereal Day is the only thing to do.
Cereal can also evoke childhood memories as well. This is because a lot of cereal companies used to include little toys in their boxes.
You may remember eating as much cereal as you could so that you could go out and buy a new box and get a new toy! Or, you may recall the excitement when you poured out the cereal and the toy landed in your bowl rather than your brother or sisters.
History of National Cereal Day
Cereal got its start in the 1800’s as an unappetizing and difficult to digest health food. Made of nuggets of bran it was thought to regulate what was a meat heavy diet. Most American’s at this time ate mostly pork and beef.
The diet of the time was very unhealthy and those who wanted to improve society thought that they could make changes in diet that would bring spiritual and social change as well.
Dr. James Caleb invented the bran nuggets to help the patrons of his sanitarium. A sanitarium was a place where people would go to recover from illness or injury or to partake of restorative spa treatments.
There was a spiritual side to being at the sanitarium as well and Dr. Caleb hosted several prominent people including the woman who created the Seventh Day Adventist religion.
Dr. John Kellogg took an interest in health foods for his patients. He created granola and with his brothers help created many other meatless breakfast foods. They even came across the method that let wheat flake instead of being a nugget and corn flakes were born!
It wasn’t until 1939 that cereal would take on the sweetness that we are familiar with today. The sweet creation was called Ranger Joe Popped Wheat Honnie and was marketed towards children. You could say that the rest is history!
From that moment forward cereal has used the marketing tactic of appealing to children through radio and TV ads.
How to Celebrate National Cereal Day
So, how best to celebrate National Cereal Day you ask? The answer is simple – enjoy your cereal! Perhaps you have been skipping breakfast in the rush to start the day.
Take a few extra minutes and get back into the good habit of starting your day off with a bowl of cereal. You can find healthy ones of granola or give your inner child a treat with a favorite from your youth.
If you travel down the breakfast aisle in the supermarket you will see that there are so many choices that there is sure to be something to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
Another way to celebrate the day is to find something new to do with your cereal. Have you tried it warm instead of cold? What about making a cereal treat? Everyone has heard of the puffed rice treats, but you can make a treat with any type of cereal and marshmallow!
If you take a few minutes to play with your favorite search engine, you will be surprised with pages of recipes that let you get creative with breakfast cereal! Have fun trying something new to celebrate National Cereal Day! Make sure you share your exciting creations on social media so everyone else can get involved too.
You could also try something new by simply enjoying a cereal that you have never had before. There are so many different types and varieties of cereal available today.
If you explore the cereal aisle, you’re bound to find lots of amazing creations that you have not even considered trying before. Now is the time! You may think that a certain type of cereal is not for you, but why not give it a try in the spirit of National Cereal Day?
You can also enjoy National Cereal Day by having this meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Of course, we would not recommend doing this every day, as eating the same thing all of the time doesn’t really make for a balanced diet. However, on one day only, you can definitely enjoy cereal more than once!
You can also spend your day learning more about this invention, which has become a staple in our diets! Did you know that the word cereal gets its name from Ceres? Ceres was the Roman goddess of agriculture and harvest.
Also, back in 1909, you got more than just a little plastic toy with your cereal! If you purchased two packages of Corn Flakes, you would get the Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book. Another fact that we love is that cereal has been to the moon!
Of course, that may not seem such a surprise now, but cereal actually went on the first moon landing! Astronauts aboard Apollo 11 ate Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. If it is good enough for them it is definitely good enough for us, right?
National Cereal Day FAQs
Did astronauts take cereal to the moon?
Yes, during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, astronauts brought Corn Flakes as part of their breakfast.
They consumed the cereal in a dehydrated form, adding water to rehydrate it before eating.
This choice provided a lightweight, easy-to-store, and nutritious option for their journey.
How did cereal influence the creation of the first toy prizes in food packages?
In 1909, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes introduced the first toy prize in a cereal box—a book called “The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book.”
This marketing strategy aimed to boost sales and engage children, setting a precedent for including toys in food products.
What is the origin of the word ‘cereal’?
The term ‘cereal’ derives from ‘Ceres,’ the Roman goddess of agriculture and harvest. This etymology reflects the grain-based nature of breakfast cereals.
How did a legal battle lead to the renaming of ‘Cheerioats’ to ‘Cheerios’?
In 1941, General Mills launched ‘Cheerioats.’ However, a legal dispute with Quaker Oats over the use of ‘oats’ in the name led to a rebranding.
In 1945, the cereal was renamed ‘Cheerios,’ a name that has endured for decades.
Why do cereals like Cheerios cluster together in milk?
This phenomenon, known as the “Cheerio Effect,” occurs because floating objects attract each other due to surface tension. As a result, cereals tend to clump together or cling to the sides of the bowl.
How did cereal companies influence Saturday morning cartoons?
In the 1960s and 1970s, cereal companies sponsored Saturday morning cartoons to target children.
They created mascots like Tony the Tiger and Cap’n Crunch, integrating them into advertising and programming to boost cereal sales.
What is the significance of Battle Creek, Michigan, in cereal history?
Battle Creek is known as the “Cereal Capital of the World.” It’s home to Kellogg’s headquarters and was the birthplace of many cereal innovations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
How did the invention of puffed cereals come about?
In 1904, Dr. Alexander P. Anderson discovered that exposing rice grains to high pressure caused them to puff up. This led to the creation of puffed cereals like Rice Krispies, which became popular breakfast options.
What was the first sweetened cereal introduced to the market?
In 1939, “Ranger Joe Popped Wheat Honnie” became the first sweetened cereal. It marked a shift towards cereals aimed at children, combining sugar with grains to appeal to younger tastes.
How did cereal consumption change during World War II?
During World War II, cereal consumption increased due to meat shortages and rationing.
Cereals provided a convenient, non-perishable, and nutritious alternative, leading to their widespread adoption in American households.
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