Charles William Post
Charles William Post grew up in Illinois, and after a brief stint in
the Springfield Governor Guards, he and a friend headed west to seek
their fortunes. They opened a hardware store.
After only a year, Post sold his half of the shop and moved back to
Illinois, where he got married. He promptly left his bride behind for
a career as a traveling salesman.
In 1880, Post manufactured an improved seed planter, and a year later
he formed Illinois Agricultural Works to sell the machines. He
patented several farm machines.
Business was good. Post was 27 years old, and so exhausted from all
his hard work that his health began to deteriorate. After a nervous
collapse in 1890, he went to the Battle Creek, Michigan, sanitarium of
John Kellogg to recover.
Kellogg had started a veritable breakfast cereal revolution in Battle
Creek. In 1901, in fact, 40 companies were incorporated in the city to
manufacture wheat flakes. Kellogg's health sanitarium was nationally
known, but it could do nothing for Post.
After nine months, Dr. Kellogg pronounced his case hopeless. Mrs. Post
would not believe it. She took her ailing husband to a practitioner of
Christian Science. He recovered under her care.
He published a book called I Am Well about his recovery and started
his own rival health food business. His first product was a coffee
substitute, Postum. Three years later, he perfected Grape Nuts. Many
other cereals were to follow.
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