Postum Cereal Company / Postum Cereal Company Factory
Posted by: 
S5280ft
N 42° 18.584 W 085° 09.692
16T E 651519 N 4685803
Quick Description: Located on the north side of Cliff Street, just east of Marjorie Street. Visitors parking available at the factory entrance.
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 3/11/2007 8:02:28 PM
Waymark Code: WM1A6A
Views: 81
Long Description:
POSTUM CEREAL COMPANY
Charles William "C.W." Post (1854 ~ 1914) began his breakfast
empire in 1892 when he opened La Vita Inn sanitarium on this site.
Post's first commercial success occurred in 1894 when he created
the hot beverage Postum. In 1896 he organized the Postum Cereal
Company. His continued experiments with grains resulted in
Grape-Nuts, his first cold cereal, in 1897. In 1908-09 sales from
Grape-Nuts, Postum, and Post Toasties surpassed $5 million. Upon
Post's death, his daughter Marjorie ran the company, continuing to
advertise extensively, and expanding the product line. In 1929
Postum became the General Foods Corporation. The Philip Morris
Company purchased General Foods in 1985, and the plant became part
of Kraft Foods in 1989.
POSTUM CEREAL COMPANY FACTORY
Breakfast cereal production began on this site in 1894 when C.W.
Post perfected his Postum drink. Remarkable as a factory with
structures dating from as early as 1895, the complex reflects the
evolution of cereal making. Post began commercial production from
one barn. Eventually everything from research to grain processing
to packaging occurred here. Known during the early 1900s as the
"White City" because of the widespread use of white paint, the
complex grew to include grain silos, a power plant offices,
processing plants, a paper factory, and warehouses. Post had his
office in the Elizabethan building at the center, which also housed
the advertising department. It became the employee clubhouse in
1925.
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