Henry D. Perky forever changed the face of breakfast when he received a patent for shredded wheat on this day in history, Aug. 1, 1893.
The Ohio-born Perky — later a resident of Denver via Nebraska — first devised shredded wheat in 1892, according to the shredded wheat fan site that goes by the name, "I love shredded wheat."
Said the site, "He took his idea of a product made of boiled wheat to his friend, William H. Ford, in Watertown, New York — a machinist by trade."
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The two then devised a machine that would create the "biscuit" of shredded wheat, which was then baked into a cereal.
Initially, Perky did not plan on entering the food business. He wanted to sell the machines, the website indicated.
Perky was a "devout vegetarian," said Smithsonian Magazine.
He promoted the concept that eating simpler foods led to a healthier life.
While commonly associated with breakfast, shredded wheat — or rather, the shredded wheat biscuit — was meant to be a food choice that could be eaten during any meal, said the same source.
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"The biscuits were a health food that could be pared with mushrooms or even sardines," said the magazine.
Initially, neither the biscuit-making machines nor the shredded wheat biscuits themselves caught on with the public.
Eventually, people began eating shredded wheat, egged on partially by claims that the food was the "wonder of the ages" and could solve a multitude of health issues.
Perky, who would open The Boston Shredded Cereal Food Company in the 1890s, said, "I love shredded wheat."
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The company would expand to Worcester in 1895 before moving again to Niagara Falls in 1901.
Shredded wheat would go international in 1904.
The company built another factory on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls, said the website. In 1925, a factory opened in England.
Despite its American origins, shredded wheat remains extremely popular in the United Kingdom, in part due to a series of ad campaigns.
"A newspaper advert in 1902 described it as ‘a relief from the monotony of everlasting porridge,’ while, by 1943, it was ‘an ideal food for all war workers,’" said the BBC.
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In the more modern era, shredded wheat was described in British advertisements as "simple, honest goodness" and as a reliable go-to food item.
One ad campaign was even cited by then-outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron.
In 2015, Cameron told the BBC that he would not seek a third term as prime minister.
He said, "Terms are like Shredded Wheat — two are wonderful but three might just be too many."
