New Books Network Kathryn Cornell Dolan, "Breakfast Cereal: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2023)
Dec 29, 2025
Dr. Kathryn Cornell Dolan, an American literature professor and food studies expert, dives into the surprising cultural history of breakfast cereals. She explains how ancient porridges propelled societal advances and the transformation from hot cereals to the cold, ready-to-eat favorites we know today. Discover the marketing innovations that brought us mascots and nutritional claims, regional variations worldwide, and even cereal's place in literature and folklore. Dolan also hints at her next project, exploring fictional future foods.
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Porridge Enabled Early Civilization
- Porridges appeared with agriculture ~10,000 years ago and enabled sedentary civilizations across regions.
- Ceramic pots and storage made breakfast porridge possible and foundational to early complex societies.
The First Cold Cereal Was Bland
- James Caleb Jackson created the first cold ready-to-eat cereal, "granola," in 1863 at a sanitarium but it needed overnight soaking.
- John Harvey Kellogg adapted and popularized the twice-baked wafer into a more palatable product served at Battle Creek Sanitarium.
Kellogg Turned Cereal Into A Market
- John Harvey Kellogg created flaked cereals and patented the process in 1894, launching cornflakes as the first boxed hit.
- W.K. Kellogg later commercialized and sweetened cereals for mass grocery markets, shaping the modern boxed cereal industry.