Happy Birthday Corn Flakes

Oh, what a festive day in the cereal biz as Battle Creek, Michigan's own Kellogg's Corn Flakes turns 100 yrs old this week!

BUT!! Did you know...

"The history of corn flakes goes back to the late 19th century, when a group of Seventh-day Adventists began to develop new food to meet the standards of their strict vegetarian diet. Members of the group experimented with a number of different grains, including wheat, oats, rice, and of course, corn. In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan and an Adventist, used these recipes as part of a strict vegetarian regimen for his patients, which also included no alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine. The diet he imposed consisted entirely of bland foods, since he believed in sexual abstinence and following the precepts of Sylvester Graham, the inventor of graham crackers and graham bread and felt that spicy or sweet foods would increase passions, while cornflakes would have an antaphrodisiac property."


Graham was a bit of a freak himself..


"He was an early advocate of dietary reform in America most notable for his emphasis on vegetarianism, and the temperance movement, as well as sexual and dietary habits.

In 1829 he invented Graham bread, made from unsifted and unbolted flour and free from chemical additives such as alum and chlorine. Graham argued that chemical additives in bread made it unwholesome, and he was correct: both alum and chlorine are now known to be toxic. The use of additives by bakeries was a common practice during the Industrial Revolution to make bread whiter in color, and more commercially appealing. Darker wheat bread was considered the fare of country rubes. Refined bread was a status symbol of the middle class because of its "purity and refinement" in its color and was purchased, rather than home-made. Graham believed that a firm, crusty bread made of coarsely ground whole-wheat flour was more nutritious and healthy.

Graham was also inspired by the temperance movement and preached that a vegetarian diet was a cure for alcoholism, and, more importantly, sexual urges. The main thrust of his teachings was to curb lust. While alcohol had useful medicinal qualities, it should never be abused by social drinking. For Graham, an unhealthy diet stimulated excessive sexual desire which irritated the body and caused disease. While Graham developed a significant following known as Grahamites, he was also ridiculed by the media and the public for his unwavering zealotry. According to newspaper records, many women fainted at his lectures when he aired opinions both on sexual relations and his invective against the wearing of corsets."


A vegetarian diet a cure for alcoholism? I'm living proof that's not true.

So if your significant other wants to have sex and you're not in the mood, don't blame it on a headache or that you're tired.. just say you ate too many Graham crackers or had too many bowls of corn flakes.



Corn flakes

Graham