Leave That Alone and Eat Your Corn Flakes

In 1894 Dr. John Henry Kellogg and Keith "WK" Kellogg operated a sanitarium and health spa in Battle Creek, Michigan. John was the Superintendent and WK was the bookkeeper. The brothers were Seventh Day Adventists. They were fundamentalists who believed in strict Biblical literalism. The body was the temple of God and was o remain pure. They were also strict vegetarians.  

Treatments offered at the sanitarium included hot and cold water baths, hydrotherapy with water enemas, electric current therapy, light therapy, exercise and message. Clients included Henry Ford, Johnny Weissmuller and Emelia Earhart. 

John Kellogg was convinced that sex was impure and harmful, especially masturbation. He did marry but never consummated the marriage. He and his wife had separate bedrooms. John wrote several books condemning sex and promoting celibacy. His books described the evil health effects of masturbation which he claimed included epilepsy, mood swings and dementia. One of his books contained the following. "Neither plague, nor war, nor smallpox have produced results so disasterous as the pernicious habit of onanism. Such a victim dies literally by his own hand."  John Kellogg proposed treatments to prevent masturbation that included piercing the foreskin with silver wires to prevent erections and using carbolic acid to burn the clitoris to prevent it from being touched. 

His treatments to prevent masturbation included diet. He was convinced that meat and spicy food increased sexual desire. He prescribed a bland diet of whole grains and nuts. The two brothers experimented with different types of bread. They rolled whole grain dough into thin sheets to make toasted crackers. One day after cooking some wheat for rolling they were called away. When they processed the cooled wheat through the rollers each grain was crushed into a flake. They thought it was a wonderful health food and began to serve it to their patients. In 1898 they tried the same process with corn and "corn flakes" we're born. They served corn flakes to patients and WK wanted to add sugar to take away the cardboard flavor. He wanted to sell them as a breakfast cereal. They patented their flaked cereals and formed the Sanitas Food Company. In 1906 WK purchased the rights to make corn flakes from his brother. He changed the recipe to include sugar and formed theBattle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. After a later legal battle with his brother it became the Kellogg Cereal Company. 

So there you have the twisted tale of corn flakes. So keep in mind, one hand on your spoon and the other one on the cereal bowl. Be K-e-double L- o- double good and keep your hands above the table at all times.