Nov 28

Nov 28 Strange But True

There is a story which is generally believed to be true about the origin of the cockerel on the packets of Kelloggs’ cereals.

A bit of history first though …

Cornflakes were a mistake. The creator W.K. Kellogg was trying to make granola but couldn’t get the recipe right. His brother was dragged into the process and he accidentally flaked wheat berries, and subsequently corn - and behold Corn Flakes were born. This was in 1898.

Glowing with success, he set up the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906 which rolls off the tongue, making Kelloggs Corn Flakes.

Bran Flakes turned up in 1915 which is far earlier than I thought. I first became aware of bran cereals in the 1970s when my Mum ate copious amounts of All Bran. But then everything was invented in the 1970s in my mind.

Clearly the rest is history.

This blog post arose because of a moment of madness in a Spanish supermarket when I saw a variety pack calling out to me. They just bring to mind holidays - guest houses, hotels, caravans.

I was surprised at how small the portions are. Or maybe I have become greedier.

There was always a variety I didn’t like - a bit like the fruity ones in chocolate boxes. For me oddly - given my fondness for it now - it was the bran cereals I didn’t like. Now I am disappointed if it’s not in the mix. Which it wasn’t. Boo!

Anyway … back to the cockerel.

So the story goes… The idea to put a cockerel on the packet was the idea of a Welsh harpist called Nansi Richards Jones, who’s legendry in harpist circles. She was born on a farm in Oswestry, and some of her earliest musical influences were her father, the travellers who worked on the farm, and Tom Lloyd - known as Telynor Ceiriog (The Cockerel Harpist) who taught her to play.

At one point she was the official harpist to King Charles when he was Prince of Wales.

Anyway, on one of her overseas trips she visited the home of the cornflake baron, Will Kellogg who was looking for a marketing idea. Nansi suggested the name Kellogg sounded similar to Ceiriog - the Welsh name for a cockerel. He loved it.

Strange but true - but there it is.