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89-482: Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills . It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originally introduced as Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes in 1924, it is primarily a wheat and bran mixture baked into flakes. Wheaties was created in 1921, as a result of an accidental spill of

178-676: A snack food , primarily in Western societies . Although warm, cooked cereals like oat meal , corn grits , and wheat farina have the longest history as traditional breakfast foods, branded and ready-to-eat cold cereals (many produced via the process of extrusion ) appeared around the late 19th century. These processed, precooked, packaged cereals are most often served in a quick and simple preparation with dairy products , traditionally cow's milk . These modern cereals can also be paired with yoghurt or plant-based milks , or eaten plain. Fruit or nuts are sometimes added, and may enhance

267-431: A Southern gentleman, Barber would often identify players as "Mister", "big fella", or "old" (regardless of the player's age): A number of play-by-play announcers including Chris Berman have adopted his use of "back, back, back" to describe a long fly ball with potential to be a home run. Those other announcers are describing the flight of the ball but Barber was describing the outfielder in this famous call from Game 6 of

356-444: A can of oil. For General Mills, he poured Wheaties into a bowl, added milk and sugar on top (some reports say he also sliced a banana), then proclaimed "Now that's the breakfast of champions." "There was not a cue card in sight", Barber said. A measure of the product's familiarity is the reference in the 1941 baseball song Joltin' Joe DiMaggio , performed by Les Brown and his orchestra during DiMaggio's record hitting streak . In

445-472: A case of exceptionally bad timing, that game was the first for CBS executive Mike Burke as team president. A week later, Barber was invited to breakfast with Burke, who told him that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season. After his dismissal by the Yankees in 1966, Barber retired from regular baseball broadcasting. He authored a number of books, including his autobiography , Rhubarb in

534-680: A center both of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and of innovation in the ready-to-eat cereal industry, and indeed, the church had a substantial impact on the development of cereal goods through the person of John Harvey Kellogg (1851–1943). Son of an Adventist factory owner in Battle Creek, Kellogg was encouraged by his church to train in medicine at Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City in 1875. After graduating, he became medical superintendent at

623-412: A cure for the common cold while England references the dish to the royal family and their traditions. Common hot cereals in parts of Canada include oatmeal , Cream of Wheat (and Cream of Rice) and Red River cereal . These hot cereals are typically served with maple syrup or brown sugar and milk or cream. Yogurt is also added to Red River cereal. Many Canadians also enjoy cereals similar to those in

712-723: A fire at his mill in Akron, Schumacher joined Stuart and Crowell to form the Consolidated Oatmeal Company. The American Cereal Company ( Quaker Oats , but see below) created a cereal made from oats in 1877, manufacturing the product in Akron, Ohio. Separately, in 1888, a trust or holding company combined the nation's seven largest mills into the American Cereal Company using the Quaker Oats brand name. By 1900, technology, entrepreneurship, and

801-458: A focus on athletic fitness and on-the-box sports figure promotions. Since the debut of the front cover depiction of Bob Richards , hundreds of athletes have been shown and promoted, including entire baseball, basketball, and football teams, while also highlighting Olympic successes (including regional Special Olympics editions). Wheaties also does not limit itself to current athletic stars, as special edition boxes have depicted baseball players from

890-1325: A grain or mixture of grains usually taking place in a facility remote from the location where the product is eaten. This distinguishes "breakfast cereals" from foods made from grains modified and cooked in the place where they are eaten. Breakfast cereals may be fortified with dietary minerals and vitamins . For example, breakfast cereal in Canada may be fortified with specific micronutrient amounts per 100 grams of cereal, including thiamin , (2.0 mg), niacin (4.8 mg), and vitamin B6 (0.6 mg), among others. Breakfast cereal companies make gluten-free cereals which are free of any gluten -containing grains. These cereals are targeted for consumers who suffer from gluten-related disorders , such as celiac disease , non-celiac gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy , among others. Some companies that produce gluten-free cereals include Kellogg's , General Mills , Nature's Path and Arrowhead Mills . Most warm cereals can be classified as porridges , in that they consist of cereal grains which are soaked in hot water, cooked and/or boiled to soften them and make them palatable. Sweeteners, such as brown sugar , honey, or maple syrup, are often added either by

979-458: A high sugar content ("sugar cereals" or even "kids' cereals" in common parlance). These cereals are frequently marketed toward children (in television ads, comic books, etc.) and often feature a cartoon mascot and may contain a toy or prize . Between 1970 and 1998, the number of different types of breakfast cereals in the U.S. more than doubled, from about 160 to around 340; as of 2012 , there were roughly 5,000 different types (estimate based on

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1068-518: A hundred radio stations carried Wheaties sponsored events. During these events, athlete testimonials about Wheaties were used to demonstrate that Wheaties was indeed the breakfast of champions. In 1934, athletes began to be depicted on the Wheaties boxes , starting with baseball star Lou Gehrig , and the tradition continues today. The heyday of Wheaties came in the 1930s and early 1940s, as testimonials peaked from nearly every sport imaginable. Among

1157-606: A job broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds on WLW and WSAI when Powel Crosley Jr. purchased the team in 1934. On Opening Day 1934 (April 17), Barber attended his first major league game and broadcast its play-by-play, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs 6–0. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati 's renamed Crosley Field for the next five seasons. Barber had been hired by Larry MacPhail , then president of

1246-515: A multimillion-dollar fortune for Post in a few years. After his death, his company acquired the Jell-O company in 1925, Baker's Chocolate in 1927, Maxwell House coffee in 1928, and Birdseye frozen foods in 1929. In 1929, the company changed its name to General Foods . In 1985, Philip Morris Tobacco Company bought General Foods for $ 5.6 billion (equivalent to $ 15.9 billion today) and merged it with its Kraft division. Because of Kellogg and Post ,

1335-410: A product called Granula (similar to Grape Nuts ) to the recognizable modern form involving at a minimum: sweetened toasted oats, but also possibly: dried fruit, puffed rice, nuts or chocolate. Over 2016 to 2017, Americans purchased 3.1 billion boxes of cereal, mostly as ready to eat cold cereal. In a $ 9.8 billion cereal market, cold cereal purchases were 88% of the total (12% for hot cereals), with

1424-474: A way to make ground corn palatable, later called grits (from the Old English word grēot , meaning "gravel"). Hominy was another preparation. While this became a staple in the southern U.S., grits never gained popularity in the northern states. Food reformers in the 19th century called for cutting back on excessive meat consumption at breakfast. They explored numerous vegetarian alternatives. Late in

1513-535: A wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove by a Minnesota clinician working for the Washburn Crosby Company (later General Mills ). By November 1924, after more than 36 attempts to strengthen the flakes to withstand packaging, the process for creating the flakes had been perfected by the Washburn head miller, George Cormack, and the cereal was named Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes . Soon after,

1602-462: Is a porridge used in a variety of meals eaten throughout the day. In the Afrikaans culture of descendants of Dutch farmers and French Huguenots , it is usually sprinkled with sugar and then eaten with milk; it can be made to a very stiff consistency so that it forms—what could be described as—a softish lumpy crumble (called krummel-pap ) or a more creamy porridge consistency (called slap-pap ). It

1691-545: Is associated with less risk of being overweight or obese and high-fiber breakfast cereals are associated with a lower risk of diabetes . All images show the final preparation of the named (or described) cereal in a bowl with cow's milk and a spoon, unless stated otherwise. Red Barber Barber was born in Columbus, Mississippi . He was a distant relative of poet Sidney Lanier and writer Thomas Lanier Williams . The family moved to Sanford, Florida in 1918, and at

1780-474: Is evident in his famous call of Gionfriddo's catch (quoted above). Many announcers say "back, back, back" describing the ball's flight. On the Gionfriddo call Barber is describing the action of the outfielder, not the ball. Curt Smith , in his book Voices of Summer , summarized the difference between Barber and Allen: "Barber was white wine, crepes suzette, and bluegrass music. Allen was hot dogs, beer, and

1869-406: Is found throughout much of Eastern Europe including Croatia , with analogous dishes existing in many wealthier, Westernized cuisines of Central Europe , such as Poland and Slovakia , where they are associated primarily with lower socioeconomic status. Russia does not value breakfast cereals as much as other places. Most instances of cereal consumption is due to the desire for weight loss. Pap

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1958-406: Is generally made from maize ("mielie") meal and is sold under various brand names. Taystee Wheat is made into a creamy wheat-based porridge. Porridge brands unique to South Africa include Jungle Oats and Bokomo Maltabella (made from malted sorghum ). In other parts of Africa it is known as ugali , bota , and banku or "makkau". Scotland is famous for its consumption of oats. In Northern Ireland,

2047-530: Is often served to young children. The cereal production in Greece has recently declined. Oatmeal is a common breakfast in Ireland. Oatmeal and porridge have been consumed in Ireland since the 19th century. In Russia , a breakfast is kasha , a porridge of buckwheat ( Russian : гречка , romanized :  grechka ), farina ( Russian : манка , romanized :  manka ), or other grains. Kasha

2136-544: The 1904 World Fair , with raw grains shot with hot compressed air from tubes, popping up to many times their size. They were marketed as a revolution in food science. In the 1920s, national advertising in magazines and radio broadcasts played a key role in the emergence of the fourth big cereal manufacturer, General Mills . In 1921, James Ford Bell , president of a Minneapolis wheat milling firm, began experimenting with rolled wheat flakes. After tempering, steaming, cracking wheat, and processing it with syrup, sugar, and salt, it

2225-445: The 1947 World Series . Joe DiMaggio was the batter: The phrase "Oh, Doctor" was also picked up by some later sportscasters, most notably Jerry Coleman , who was a New York Yankee infielder during the 1940s and 1950s and later worked alongside Barber in the Yankees' radio and TV booths. In Game 4 of that same 1947 Series, Barber memorably described Cookie Lavagetto 's ninth-inning hit to break up Bill Bevens ' no-hitter and win

2314-618: The Brooklyn Dodgers . The Red Barber Radio Scholarship is awarded each year by the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications to a student studying sports broadcasting. A WRUF microphone used by Barber during the 1930s is part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's collection. It has been displayed in the museum's "Scribes and Mikemen" exhibit, and from 2002 to 2006 it

2403-646: The Fordham University graduate Vin Scully for CBS football coverage, and eventually invited him into the Dodgers' broadcast booth to succeed Harwell in 1950 after the latter's departure for the crosstown New York Giants . That same year, the Dodgers began airing regular television broadcasts over WOR-TV , Channel 9 in New York, with the trio of Barber, Desmond, and Scully now alternating play-by-play for

2492-550: The NFL Championship Game , Army–Navy Game and Orange Bowl . Prior to the 1953 World Series , Barber was selected by Gillette , which sponsored the Series broadcasts, to call the games on NBC along with Mel Allen . Barber wanted a larger fee than was offered by Gillette, however, and when Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley refused to back him, Barber declined to work the Series and Vin Scully partnered with Allen on

2581-679: The Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, established in 1866 by the Adventists to offer their natural remedies for illness. Many wealthy industrialists came to Kellogg's sanitarium for recuperation and rejuvenation. In Battle Creek sanitarium guests found fresh air, exercise, rest, hydrotherapy , a strict vegetarian diet, and abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea. (They were accustomed to breakfasts of ham, eggs, sausages, fried potatoes, hot biscuits, hotcakes (pancakes), and coffee.) To supplement

2670-635: The flora around his home. Barber would address Edwards as "Colonel Bob", referring to the Kentucky Colonel honorific given to Edwards by his native state. Red Barber died in 1992 in Tallahassee, Florida . Edwards' book Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship based on his Morning Edition segments with Barber, was published in 1993. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association inducted Barber into its Hall of Fame in 1973. In 1978, Barber joined former colleague Mel Allen to become

2759-500: The mass customization of online shopping ). In this highly competitive market, cereal companies have developed an ever-increasing number of varieties and flavors (some are flavored like dessert or candy ). Although many plain wheat-, oat- and corn-based cereals exist, a great many other varieties are highly sweetened, and some brands include freeze-dried fruit as a sweet element. The breakfast cereal industry has gross profit margins of 40–45%, In 2009, market researchers expected

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2848-507: The "Breakfast of Champions" slogan. By 1941 Wheaties had won 12% percent of the cereal market. Experiments with the puffing process produced Kix , a puffed corn cereal, and Cheerios , a puffed oats cereal. Further product innovation and diversification brought total General Mills sales to over $ 500 million annually (18% in packaged foods) by the early 1950s. In 1944 General Foods launched a marketing campaign for Grape Nuts, focusing on nutritional importance of breakfast. After World War II ,

2937-842: The "Man in Quaker Garb"—a symbol of plain honesty and reliability—gave Quaker Oats a national market and annual sales of $ 10 million (equivalent to $ 370 million today). Early in the 20th century, the Quaker Oats Company (formed in 1901 to replace the American Cereal Company) ventured into the world market. Schumacher, the innovator; Stuart, the manager and financial leader; and Crowell, the creative merchandiser, advertiser, and promoter, doubled sales every decade. Alexander P. Anderson 's steam-pressure method of shooting rice from guns created puffed rice and puffed wheat . Crowell's intensive advertising campaign in

3026-403: The "catbird seat" phrase until after he had read the story.) In 1957, Barber appeared as himself in "Hillbilly Whiz", a third-season episode of The Phil Silvers Show . In the 2013 film 42 , which dramatizes Jackie Robinson breaking the major leagues' color barrier with the Dodgers, Barber is played by John C. McGinley . In the 2015 television series Manhattan (Series 1, Episode 11),

3115-484: The 1920s and 1930s featured promotions with such celebrities as Babe Ruth , Max Baer , and Shirley Temple . Sponsorship of the popular Rin-Tin-Tin and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon radio shows aided the company's expansion during the depression. Meat rationing during World War II boosted annual sales to $ 90 million (equivalent to $ 1.5 billion today), and by 1956 sales topped $ 277 million ($ 3.1 billion today). By 1964

3204-461: The 1939 All-star game , 46 of the 51 players endorsed the cereal. In the months following, Wheaties became one of the sponsors of the first televised sports broadcast to allow commercials. On August 29, 1939, NBC television presented the first major league baseball game ever televised between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers to approximately 500 television set owners in New York City over experimental station W2XBS (now WNBC). Red Barber

3293-555: The 1940s of sponsorship of broadcasting, Wheaties began simple commercial sports testimonials on television or radio. These were less effective than the overall sponsorship (especially in the case of television), yet also greatly reduced costs for advertising of the product. In the early 1950s, General Mills redirected its promotional strategy for Wheaties to focus on children, following its great success in this market with its Cheerios brand. The strategy included sponsorship of The Lone Ranger and The Mickey Mouse Club , as well as

3382-451: The 65,000-seat Yankee Stadium . Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the empty stands as he commented on the low attendance. WPIX refused to do so, on orders from the Yankees' head of media relations. Undeterred, Barber said, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." In

3471-493: The AM dial, teaming with Al Helfer from 1939 to 1941, followed by Alan Hale in 1942 and Connie Desmond beginning in 1943. When he developed a severe bleeding ulcer in 1948 and had to take a leave of absence from broadcasting for several weeks, Dodgers president Branch Rickey arranged for Ernie Harwell , the announcer for the minor-league Atlanta Crackers , to be sent to Brooklyn as Barber's substitute; in exchange, Cliff Dapper ,

3560-493: The Catbird Seat ; contributed to occasional sports documentary programs on radio and television, including Ken Burns ' documentary Baseball ; and from 1981 until his death made weekly contributions to National Public Radio 's Morning Edition program. Each Friday Barber, speaking from his home in Tallahassee, Florida , would talk with host Bob Edwards , usually about sports but frequently about other topics, including

3649-408: The Reds. MacPhail became president of the Dodgers in 1938, and in 1939, he brought the play-by-play man to the Dodgers. In Brooklyn , Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style. He was also appreciated by people concerned about Brooklyn's reputation as a land of "dees" and "dems" . Barber became famous for his signature catchphrases , including these: To further his image as

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3738-472: The U.S. Marine Corps Band. Like Millay , Barber was a poet. Like Sinatra , Allen was a balladeer. Detached, Red reported. Involved, Mel roared." Under the ownership of CBS in 1966, the Yankees finished tenth and last, their first time at the bottom of the standings since 1912 and after more than 40 years of dominating the American League. On September 22, a paid attendance of 413 was announced at

3827-459: The United States market. In China, porridges such as rice congee , or those made with other ingredients (including corn meal or millet) are often eaten for breakfast. Eating breakfast cereal has become more important in China and specifically Hong Kong due to the increase of work and decrease in time. In Greece, cornmeal is poured into boiling milk to create a cereal of a thick consistency which

3916-562: The Wheaties Sports Federation. The Wheaties Sports Federation promoted physical fitness, training, and participation in athletic events, through direct financial support of Olympic educational programs and the Jaycee Junior Champ track and field competition, and also through educational and instructional athletic films. From the 1960s through the 1990s, Wheaties provided in-box promotions but maintained

4005-513: The Yankees, Barber strove to adopt a strictly neutral, dispassionately reportorial broadcast style, avoiding not only partisanship but also any emotional surges that would match the excitement of the fans. He'd already had a reputation as a "fair" announcer while with the Dodgers, as opposed to a "homer" who openly rooted for his team from the booth. Some fans and critics found this later, more restrained Barber to be dull, especially in contrast with Mel Allen's dramatic, emotive style. Barber described

4094-595: The age of 21, he hitchhiked to Gainesville and enrolled at the University of Florida , majoring in education. During Barber's first year, he worked at various jobs including part-time janitor at the University Club. It was there in January 1930 that Barber got his start in broadcasting. An agriculture professor had been scheduled to appear on WRUF , the university radio station, to read a scholarly paper over

4183-591: The air. When the professor's absence was discovered minutes before the broadcast was to begin, janitor Barber was called in as a substitute. It was thus that the future sportscaster's first gig was reading "Certain Aspects of Bovine Obstetrics ". After those few minutes in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers. He became WRUF's director and chief announcer and covered Florida Gators football games that autumn. Then he dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. After four more years at WRUF he landed

4272-427: The big breakfast cereal companies—now including General Mills , who entered the market in 1924 with Wheaties —increasingly started to target children. The flour was refined to remove fiber, which at the time was considered to undermine digestion and absorption of nutrients, and sugar was added to improve the flavor for children. The new breakfast cereals began to look starkly different from their ancestors. Ranger Joe,

4361-528: The catcher for the Dodgers' farm team in Montreal , was permitted to go to Atlanta to serve as the Crackers' new player-manager, thereby effecting the first player-for-announcer "trade" in major league history. Harwell would remain as a third man in the Dodgers' booth with Barber and Desmond through the 1949 season. While running CBS Sports, Barber became the mentor of another redheaded announcer. He recruited

4450-524: The center's vegetarian regimen, Kellogg experimented with granola. Soon afterwards he began to experiment with wheat, resulting in a lighter, flakier product. In 1891 he acquired a patent and then in 1895 he launched the Cornflakes brand, which overnight captured a national market. Soon there were forty rival manufacturers in the Battle Creek area. His brother William K. Kellogg (1860–1951) worked for him for many years until, in 1906, he broke away, bought

4539-590: The century, the Seventh-day Adventists based in Michigan made these food reforms part of their religion, and non-meat breakfasts were featured in their sanitariums and led to new breakfast cereals. Ferdinand Schumacher , a German immigrant , began the cereals revolution in 1854 with a hand oats grinder in the back room of a small store in Akron, Ohio . His German Mills American Oatmeal Company

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4628-593: The cereal boxes of regular Wheaties are featured on these brands. These are the four brands which have been created in response to the popularity of Wheaties, along with their introduction date: In Australia and New Zealand, the spelling is 'Weeties'. Variants are made by Sanitarium and the General Mills/Nestlé subsidiary Uncle Tobys . Breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from processed cereal grains that are eaten as part of breakfast , or as

4717-530: The city of Battle Creek, Michigan , is nicknamed the "Cereal Capital of the World". Muesli is a breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats , fruit, and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by the Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital. It is available in a packaged dry form such as Alpen or Familia Swiss Müesli, or it can be made fresh. In 1902, Force wheat flakes became

4806-545: The company White's has been milling oats in Tandragee since 1841. England has incorporated porridge in their culture for centuries. Many of the different types of porridge were made specially for the royal family including a type of porridge called "pea porridge". This specific dish was made for King Richard II. Consumption of breakfast cereal is under preliminary research for the potential to improve nutrition and affect chronic diseases. Regular breakfast cereal consumption

4895-413: The decline in sales by returning Wheaties to its sporting roots. A three-pronged marketing strategy was devised. The first element was the selection of the brand's first spokesman, Bob Richards , two-time Olympic pole vault champion. The second was the reentry of Wheaties into the sports television sponsorship arena, pioneering the concepts of the pre-game and post-game show. The third was the creation of

4984-480: The development of a mascot, a puppet character called Champy the Lion, produced by Bil Baird and voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft . Despite these efforts, sales of Wheaties declined dramatically, mainly due to adult consumers' dislike of so-called children's cereals. Children's consumption of Wheaties did in fact increase, but not enough to offset the decline in adult consumption. In 1958, General Mills decided to combat

5073-597: The early 20th century, and many athletes who were too early for Wheaties to cover (see Jim Thorpe ). Recently, sales of Wheaties in the US has declined significantly. From 2005 to 2014 sales of Wheaties declined 78%. There have been a total of seven spokespersons for the Wheaties brand since 1958, listed here with their date of selection: Like many popular cereal brands from the early 20th century, Wheaties has had its share of spin-off brands. Also, several athletes featured on

5162-756: The field and the way Robinson held up to the vicious abuse from opposing fans, Barber became an ardent supporter of him and the black players who followed, including Dodger stars Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe . (This story is told in Barber's 1982 book, 1947: When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball .) During this period, Barber also broadcast numerous World Series for Mutual radio and in 1948 and 1952 for NBC television, frequently teaming with Yankees announcer Mel Allen . He also called New York Giants football from 1942 to 1946, as well as several professional and college football games on network radio and TV, including

5251-495: The firm sold over 200 products, grossed over $ 500 million ($ 4.9 billion today), and claimed that eight million people ate Quaker Oats each day. Expansion included the acquisition of Aunt Jemima Mills Company in 1926, which continues as a leading brand of pancake mixes and syrup, the sport drink Gatorade in 1983, and in 1986, the Golden Grain Company, producers of Rice-A-Roni canned lunch food. In 2001 Quaker Oats

5340-890: The first broadcasters to receive the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum . In 1979, he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Florida, given a Gold Award by the Florida Association of Broadcasters, and inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame . In 1984, Barber was part of the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame's inaugural class which included sportscasting legends Don Dunphy , Ted Husing , Bill Stern and Graham McNamee . Barber

5429-586: The first pre-sweetened breakfast cereal of sugar-coated puffed wheat or rice, was introduced in the US in 1939. Kellogg's Sugar Smacks , created in 1953, had 56% sugar by weight. Different mascots were introduced, such as the Rice Krispies elves and later pop icons like Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit . In the 1960s, the modern version of granola was invented and popularized. It evolved from

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5518-584: The first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal introduced into the United Kingdom . The cereal, and the Sunny Jim character, achieved wide success in Britain, at its peak in 1930 selling 12.5 million packages in one year. Kellogg began the breakfast cereal marketing and introduced the first in-box prize in the early 1900s. Quaker Oats entered the market with Puffed Rice and Wheat Berries it had introduced at

5607-697: The game at once: In 1939, Barber broadcast the first major-league game on television, on experimental NBC station W2XBS . In 1946, he added to his Brooklyn duties a job as sports director of the CBS Radio Network , succeeding Ted Husing and continuing through 1955. There, his greatest contribution was to conceive and host the CBS Football Roundup , which switched listeners back and forth between broadcasts of different regional college games each week. Barber called Dodgers broadcasts over New York radio station WHN (later WMGM) at 1050 on

5696-460: The industry. Henry Parsons Crowell started operations in 1882, and John Robert Stuart in 1885. Crowell cut costs by consolidating every step of the processing—grading, cleaning, hulling, cutting, rolling, packaging, and shipping—in one factory operating at Ravenna, Ohio . Stuart operated mills in Chicago and Cedar Rapids, Iowa . Stuart and Crowell combined in 1885 and initiated a price war. After

5785-493: The land. Wheaties began its association with sports in 1927, through advertising on the southern wall of minor league baseball's Nicollet Park in Minneapolis , Minnesota. In the contract, Wheaties sponsored the radio broadcasts of the minor league baseball team, Minneapolis Millers , on radio station WCCO and Wheaties was provided with a large billboard in the park to use to introduce new slogans. The first such slogan on

5874-401: The late 1800s. While there, he grew deeply impressed with their all-grain diet. Upon his release, he began experimenting with grain products, beginning with an all-grain coffee substitute called Postum. In 1897 (or 1898) he introduced Grape-nuts , the concentrated cereal with a nutty flavor (containing neither grapes nor nuts). Good business sense, determination, and powerful advertising produced

5963-555: The manufacturer, during cooking, or before eating. Porridge is especially popular in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England. Porridge became important in Scotland due to the freezing winters. The Scottish people prefer porridge to be made with only water and salt while other prefer creamier substances to be added. Wales had a perfect climate for cultivating oats making porridge common in Welsh households. Ireland mixes porridge with whiskey as

6052-483: The many testimonials included were: baseball stars, managers, and trainers; broadcasters ; football stars and coaches; circus stars and rodeo ; livestock breeders; a railroad engineer ; horsemen and jockeys ; a big-game hunter ; automobile racers ; an aviator ; a speedboat driver; an explorer ; and parachutists . Wheaties maintained brand recognition through its definitive association with sports, and its distinctive orange boxes. It became so popular that in

6141-500: The market to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% (in the next 5 years); it has had steady and continued growth throughout its history. Cereal grains, namely porridge (and especially oatmeal ), became an important breakfast component in North America. Barley was a commonly used grain, though other grains and yellow peas could be used. In many modern cultures, porridge is still eaten as a breakfast dish. Native Americans had found

6230-530: The most popular Wheaties announcer in the nation. He was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to the Cubs' spring training camp in California , and while there he took a Warner Bros. screen test. This led to his eventual film career; thus the Wheaties claim of perhaps leading Reagan into show business, and later politics as governor of California and 40th President of the United States . Due to increasing costs in

6319-400: The name was changed to Wheaties as a result of an employee contest won by Jane Bausman, the wife of a company export manager. Other names passed over included "Nutties" and "Gold Medal Wheat Flakes." Wheaties began to be advertised on Minneapolis's WCCO radio station (owned by Washburn Crosby) on December 24, 1926, with the first-ever pre-recorded commercial jingle . Its lyrics were sung to

6408-406: The new signboard was penned by Knox Reeves, of a Minneapolis advertising agency. When asked what should be placed on the sign for Wheaties, Reeves sketched a Wheaties box on a pad of paper, thought for a moment, and wrote "Wheaties—The Breakfast of Champions" . Throughout the 1930s, Wheaties increased in popularity with its sponsorship of baseball broadcasting, and by the end of the decade, nearly

6497-432: The nutritional benefits. Some companies promote their products for the health benefits that come from eating oat-based and high- fiber cereals. In the United States, cereals are often fortified with vitamins , but can still lack many of the vitamins needed for a healthful breakfast, and so initial marketing focused on making the new products "part of a complete breakfast". A significant proportion of packaged cereals have

6586-406: The overall cereal market declining due to reduced consumption of sugar and dairy products . Kellogg's and General Mills each had 30% of the market share for cold cereals. Honey Nut Cheerios was the leading cold cereal. The processing of grains helps to separate the bran and cereal germ , but may remove nutrients, such as B vitamins and dietary fiber. Processing is the modification of

6675-401: The pound to customers. Hoyt, who had found a distinctive process of preparing wheat for cereal, sold his cereal in boxes, offering consumers a more sanitary and consumer-friendly option. Packaged breakfast cereals were considerably more convenient than a product that had to be cooked, and as a result of this convenience (and clever marketing), they became popular. Battle Creek, Michigan , was

6764-490: The rights to Cornflakes, and set up the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company. William Kellogg discarded the health food concept, opting for heavy advertising and commercial taste appeal. Later, his signature on every package became the company trademark. The second major innovator in the cereal industry was Charles W. Post , a salesman who was admitted to Kellogg's sanitarium as a patient in

6853-489: The song, DiMaggio gets a clutch base hit, and the band awards him "a case of Wheaties". Wheaties radio broadcasting in the 1930s touched the early career of Ronald Reagan , who was at the time a sports broadcast announcer in Des Moines, Iowa . He was asked to create play-by-play recreations of Chicago Cubs baseball games using transcribed telegraph reports; his job performance in this role led to his selection in 1937 as

6942-434: The team's games on both radio and TV. Barber was the first person outside the team's board of directors to be told by Branch Rickey that the Dodgers had begun the process of racial desegregation in baseball, which led to signing Jackie Robinson as the first black player in the major leagues after the 1880s. As a Southerner, having lived with racial segregation as a fact of life written into law, Barber told Rickey that he

7031-591: The telecasts instead. As Barber later related in his 1968 autobiography, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat , he was rankled by O'Malley's lack of support, and this – along with a dispute over the renewal of Barber's $ 50,000 a year contract – led to his departure from the Dodgers' booth later that October. Soon afterward the crosstown Yankees hired Barber. Just before the start of the 1954 season, surgery resulted in permanent deafness in one ear. In 1955, he took his long-running television program Red Barber's Corner from CBS to NBC. It ran from 1949 until 1958. With

7120-517: The thought of broadcasting games played by a Negro player was simply too much for him to agree to. He arrived home and informed his wife of his decision to quit that very night. She, also being from the Deep South , had become accustomed to a much better life in a toney neighborhood of Westchester County. She convinced him that there was no need to quit then, and a few martinis into the evening, he said he would try. After observing Robinson's skill on

7209-424: The tune of the then-popular "She's a Jazz Baby" by Bill Holcombe and David Miller or possibly to the tune of " Jazz Baby ": Have you tried Wheaties? They're whole wheat with all of the bran. Won't you try Wheaties? For wheat is the best food of man. They're crispy and crunchy The whole year through. The kiddies never tire of them And neither will you. So just try Wheaties The best breakfast food in

7298-409: The ways they covered long fly balls as one of the central differences between Allen and himself. Allen would watch the ball. Thus his signature call, "That ball is going, going, it is GONE!", sometimes turned into, "It is going ... to be caught!" or "It is going ... foul!" Barber would watch the outfielder, his movements and his eyes, and would thus be a better judge whether the ball would be caught. This

7387-515: Was featured as part of the "Baseball as America" traveling exhibition. Barber is mentioned in " The Catbird Seat ", a 1942 short story by James Thurber . A female character in the story likes to use the titular expression as well as such phrases as "tearing up the pea patch" and "hollering down the rain barrel", prompting another character to suggest that she picked them up from listening to Barber's Dodger radio broadcasts. (Ironically enough, according to Barber's daughter, her father did not begin using

7476-561: Was given a George Polk Award in 1985 and a Peabody Award in 1990 for his NPR broadcasts, and in 1995 he was posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame . In 1993, TV Guide named Barber the best sportscaster of the 1950s. In 1994, two years after his death, Barber was seen several times throughout the Ken Burns series Baseball as he recounted memorable episodes of baseball history, especially of

7565-848: Was itself bought out by PepsiCo . The first cold breakfast cereal, Granula (not to be confused with granola ), was invented in the United States in 1863 by James Caleb Jackson , operator of Our Home on the Hillside which was later replaced by the Jackson Sanatorium in Dansville, New York . The cereal never became popular, due to the inconvenient necessity of tenderizing the heavy bran and graham nuggets by soaking them overnight. George H. Hoyt created Wheatena circa 1879, during an era when retailers would typically buy cereal (the most popular being cracked wheat , oatmeal , and cerealine ) in barrel lots, and scoop it out to sell by

7654-421: Was not sure he could broadcast the games. As was related in a biography of Branch Rickey by Jimmy Breslin , Barber left the meeting with Rickey and walked for hours trying to decide his future. Having been raised in the racially segregated South, and having attended the University of Florida , which, at the time of his attendance was limited to white male students, he had in his words, "been carefully taught", and

7743-611: Was prepared in a pressure cooker for rolling and then dried in an electric oven. By 1925, Wheaties had become the "Breakfast of Champions". In 1928, four milling companies consolidated as the General Mills Company in Minneapolis. The new firm expanded packaged food sales with heavy advertising, including sponsorship of radio programs such as " Skippy ", " Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy ", and baseball games. Jack Dempsey , Johnny Weissmuller , and others verified

7832-553: Was the nation's first commercial oatmeal manufacturer. He marketed the product locally as a substitute for breakfast pork. Improved production technology (steel cutters, porcelain rollers, improved hullers), combined with an influx of German and Irish immigrants, quickly boosted sales and profits. In 1877, Schumacher adopted the Quaker symbol, the first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal. The acceptance of " horse food" for human consumption encouraged other entrepreneurs to enter

7921-457: Was the play-by-play broadcaster. Although full commercial television would not be authorized until July 1, 1941, the FCC allowed commercials to be inserted in this particular, special event broadcast as a test. Barber had to ad-lib three live commercials, one for each Dodger sponsor. For Procter & Gamble, he held up a bar of Ivory Soap. For Socony, Barber put on a Mobil gas station cap and raised

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