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The Kelloggs
The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek | Howard Markel
"What's more American than Corn Flakes?" Bing Crosby From the much admired medical historian (Markel shows just how compelling the medical history can beAndrea Barrett) and author of An Anatomy of Addiction (Absorbing, vividSherwin Nuland, The New York Times Book Review, front page)the story of Americas empire builders: John and Will Kellogg. John Harvey Kellogg was one of Americas most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will, was the founder of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast. In The Kelloggs, Howard Markel tells the sweeping saga of these two extraordinary men, whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed Americas notion of health and wellness from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, and who helped change the course of American medicine, nutrition, wellness, and diet. The Kelloggs were of Puritan stock, a family that came to the shores of New England in the mid-seventeenth century, that became one of the biggest in the county, and then renounced it all for the religious calling of Ellen Harmon White, a self-proclaimed prophetess, and James White, whose new Seventh-day Adventist theology was based on Christian principles and sound body, mind, and hygiene rulesEllen called it health reform. The Whites groomed the young John Kellogg for a central role in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and sent him to Americas finest Medical College. Kelloggs main medical focusand Americas number one malady: indigestion (Walt Whitman described it as the great American evil). Markel gives us the life and times of the Kellogg brothers of Battle Creek: Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his world-famous Battle Creek Sanitarium medical center, spa, and grand hotel attracted thousands actively pursuing health and well-being. Among the guests: Mary Todd Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Booker T. Washington, Johnny Weissmuller, Dale Carnegie, Sojourner Truth, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and George Bernard Shaw. And the presidents he advised: Taft, Harding, Hoover, and Roosevelt, with first lady Eleanor. The brothers Kellogg experimented on malt, wheat, and corn meal, and, tinkering with special ovens and toasting devices, came up with a ready-to-eat, easily digested cereal they called Corn Flakes. As Markel chronicles the Kelloggs fascinating, Magnificent Ambersonslike ascent into the pantheon of American industrialists, we see the cast changes in American social mores that took shape in diet, health, medicine, philanthropy, and food manufacturing during seven decadeschanging the lives of millions and helping to shape our industrial age.
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Another positive for working the weekend (aside from its proximity to a rather lovely bookstore) is that it‘s also within walking distance to a Brumby‘s bakery… once a prolific chain - they are now fairly rare - which is a shame because they do pies & pasties and apparently these sultana & cornflake biscuits… you wouldn‘t catch me eating a bowl of cornflakes but they work brilliantly here!

kspenmoll Happy for your reward for weekend work! 2y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @kspenmoll, there were a lot of parents trying to sort out books for book week costumes. My most surreal one was the kid that wanted to be a banana - and the Mum who made it my problem. 🍌 2y
kspenmoll @thegirlwiththelibrarybag Not nice of mama banana- never understand when people cannot own what clearly needs s their responsibility. 2y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @kspenmoll, not leaving themselves much time either, if the book is out on loan or at another branch 😅 (edited) 2y
49 likes4 comments
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Librarybelle
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Not #WheatKings ...more like corn kings, the Kellogg‘s brothers founded a company all in the name of digestion. This is a book on my to read list - it‘s not all Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes and talking Rice Krispies in their world. #TimbitTunes

Cinfhen Hehehe!!! Sounds awesome!!!! Your wealth of books is amazing!!!!!! 6y
TheKidUpstairs A whole new level of sibling rivalry! 6y
BookClubMom I would definitely like to read this! 6y
Blaire I heard a radio story about them - sounds like a fascinating story. 6y
79 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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Circumambient

Fun fact: Wheaties used to have ~25% of the cereal market in the USA.

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GerardtheBookworm
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Pickpick

An interesting real life Cain and Abel story. Dr. John Kellogg and his younger brother Will founded the Kellogg cereal company with the idea of promoting wellness and health. However, Dr. John's arrogance and his psychotic need for control put a wedge between him and Will as the younger sibling transformed the brand into a successful, household name; thereby inciting a feuding rivalry. A compelling read.

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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 1! John Kellogg was an author, health-magazine publisher, & legendary physician--his Battle Creek Sanitarium received the likes of Mary Todd Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Booker T. Washington, and Dale Carnegie. His brother, Will, founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast. Their love-hate relationship was incredible. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Zelma And according to the recent book I read on Victorians, he was a quack. 😉 I did enjoy The Road to Wellville though. 7y
60 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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BethFishReads
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I'm baaaaaaack! I'll catch up with Litsy during the week, but in the meantime, last week's round-up was books for food lovers & cooks. http://www.bethfishreads.com/2017/07/weekend-cooking-6-books-for-food-lovers.htm...

Rhondareads Loving What She Ate, 7y
BethFishReads @Rhondareads I figured you'd have it on your list 😊 7y
47 likes2 stack adds2 comments