The Food That Built America - History Channel

[jazz lady]

Three episode mini-series. Synopsis:

For generations of Americans, food titans like Henry Heinz, Milton Hershey, John and Will Kellogg, C.W. Post and the McDonald brothers have literally been household names, but you don't know their stories. Before they were brand names, they were brilliant, sometimes ruthless, visionaries who revolutionized food and changed the landscape of America forever. This miniseries event will tell the fascinating stories of the people behind the food that built America - those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America's heart through its stomach, and along the way built cities, invented new technologies and helped win wars.

Stream The Food That Built America & Watch All Episodes - The HISTORY Channel

www.history.com

I really liked the first episode last night about the beginnings of the iconic companies like Kellogg's, Heinz, and Post.

Season 1, Episode 1 - Lines in the Sand

In the wake of the Civil War, a revolution is taking place on the backs of visionary entrepreneurs of industry. Before they become brand names, budding innovators like Henry Heinz, John and Will Kellogg, and C.W. Post push the limits of ingenuity to launch businesses that will revolutionize industry, and change the landscape of the nation forever.

More about the founder of Kellogg's:

Dr. John Kellogg Invented Cereal. Some of His Other Wellness Ideas Were Much Weirder

Patients—including presidents, business titans and movie stars—flocked to his Battle Creek Sanitarium, where treatments included 15-quart enemas and electrical currents to the eyeballs.

Battle Creek Sanitarium, America’s most popular medical spa of the early 20th century, may be best known as the birthplace of the corn flake. But some might say that the biggest flake to come out of Battle Creek was the man in charge: John Harvey Kellogg, the dapper doctor who typically dressed in a white suit and white shoes, often with a white cockatoo perched on his shoulder.

Dr. John Kellogg Invented Cereal. Some of His Other Wellness Ideas Were Much Weirder | HISTORY

Patients—including presidents and famed industrialists—flocked to his Battle Creek Sanitarium, where treatments included electrical currents to the eyeballs and 15‑quart enemas.

history.com

Fascinating and the story is full of weird anecdotal moments like these.

Episode 2 tonight at 9 on the History Channel.

 

[vraiblonde]

Stuff like this fascinates me. It's a big part of our American history.

 

[Grumpy]

Dr Kellogg was definitely a wild and crazy guy.

 

[jazz lady]

Stuff like this fascinates me. It's a big part of our American history.

Me, too. So much drama and intrigue, with a healthy dose of insanity. Like Paul Harvey used to say: "And now you know...the rest of the story."

 

[jazz lady]

Dr Kellogg was definitely a wild and crazy guy.

And not good in a Steve Martin kind of way.

 

[Merlin99]

Dr Kellogg was definitely a wild and crazy guy.

You want wierd, look at John Noyes who started the Oneida colony (Oneida silverware). Back in the 1860's he ran a commune that would have looked in place in a 1960's commune. His grand idea is any two people in the commune could have sex, but the guy wasn't allowed to finish. I'm thinking these guys were probably punching out bears after a year or two of this.

 

[jazz lady]

The last episode on Wednesday night featured Marjorie Merriweather Post, whom Merriweather Post Pavilion is named after.

Interesting tidbits:

• At age 27, when her father died, she became the owner of the rapidly growing Postum Cereal Company, founded in 1895. She was subsequently the wealthiest woman in the United States, with a fortune worth about US$250 million.
• She built Mar-A-Lago and bequeathed it to the Park Service upon her death, but because the costs of maintaining the property exceeded the funds provided by Post, and it was difficult to secure the facility (as it is located in the flight path of Palm Beach Airport), the property was returned to the Post Foundation by an Act of Congress in 1981. Donald Trump bought the property in 1985 and his then wife Ivanka ran it.
• She had one daughter with her second husband: Nedenia Marjorie Hutton (1923-2017), better known as the actress Dina Merrill.

Marjorie Merriweather Post - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am going to rewatch the three episodes as I missed parts and was too tired to pay attention at times. Fascinating stuff.

 

[glhs837]

Kellogg was a Froot Loop.