Monday, August 1– Supermarkets carry dozens of brands in their cereal aisles, from the sugary and candy-like to high-fiber organic products. One of them has been available for over 120 years, an early entrant in the cereal business. On this date in 1893, Denver restaurant owner Henry Perky received a patent for a “Machine for the Preparation of Cereals for Food.” That food was shredded wheat. By 1901, he had set up an ultra-modern plant at Niagara Falls called “the Palace of Light” to make shredded wheat, and the falls became the familiar logo of the cereal, which continues as a Nabisco product.
In the U.S. today, there are 82 breakfast cereal manufacturing establishments, employing 11,500 workers.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
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