National Cereal Day!

March 7th urges us to get our bowl spoon ready for National Cereal Day each year! Since the end of the 19th century, cereal has become America’s most popular breakfast food.

Now, not only is cereal eaten for breakfast, but it has become a popular bedtime snack. Some people even enjoy a bowl for an evening meal. Bakers turn to cereal in their cake, cookie, and bar recipes. The most popular one is Rice Crispy Bar Treats.

A Little Cereal History:

Ferdinand Schumacher, a German immigrant, began the cereal revolution in 1854 with a hand oats grinder in the back room of a small store in Akron, Ohio. His German Mills American Oatmeal Company was the nation’s first commercial oatmeal manufacturer.  In 1877, Schumacher adopted the Quaker symbol, the first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal.

Granula, the first breakfast cereal, was invented in the United States in 1863 by James Caleb Jackson, operator of Our Home on the Hillside, which was later replaced by the Jackson Sanatorium in Dansville, New York.  The cereal never became popular since it was inconvenient as the heavy bran nuggets needed soaking overnight before they were tender enough to eat.

Source: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/