Wheatena

Wheatena is an American high-fiber, toasted-wheat cereal that originated on Mulberry Street in New York City, New York, circa 1879, when a small bakery owner began roasting whole wheat, grinding it, and packaging it for sale under this brand name.

History

Wheatena was created by George H. Hoyt in the late 19th century, 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 the pound to customers. Hoyt, who'd found a distinctive process of preparing wheat for cereal, sold his cereal in boxes, offering consumers a sanitary appeal.

Hoyt advertised the cereal in newspapers as early as 1879 and sold the business six years later to Dr. Frank Fuller, a physician with interest in nutrition, who had founded the Health Food Company. Fuller adapted Hoyt's method to his own process for preparing a wheat cereal, and moved manufacturing to Akron, Ohio, close to the wheat supply. A.R. Wendell bought Health Foods in 1903, and incorporated it as The Wheatena Company that year. In 1907, the company moved to a new plant, dubbed "Wheatenaville", in Rahway, New Jersey. By the mid-1920s, millions of boxes were sold each year.

In the early 1960s, the Kansas City, Missouri-based Uhlmann Company, owner of the Standard Milling Company, purchased both the Wheatena corporation and Highspire Flour Mills, which for several years had been supplying the 100% cracked wheat used in the cereal. Uhlmann moved Wheatena manufacturing to Highspire, Pennsylvania in October 1967. The company began leasing its flour-milling facilities to the agribusiness giant ConAgra Foods in early 1987, and sold the cereal manufacturing operation to American Home Food Products in April 1988. Uhlmann retained rights to the Wheatena brand until shortly after International Home Foods acquired American Home Foods in November 1996 and then bought the brand name from Uhlmann. International Home Foods was in turn acquired by ConAgra in Aug. 2000.

Entrepreneur William Stadtlander bought the brand and the Pennsylvania manufacturing plant on Oct. 31, 2001, under the newly formed Homestat Farm, Ltd. of Dublin, Ohio, which as of 2006 manufactures Wheatena and fellow vintage cereals Maypo and Maltex.

In mid-2006, California sued Homestat under the state's Proposition 65, which requires labeling for food containing acrylamide, a potential carcinogen created when starch is baked, roasted, fried or toasted. Homestat was in compliance with federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, which do not require warning labels on foods containing acrylamide.

In the media

Wheatena sponsored the thrice-weekly "Popeye the Sailor" radio program that premiered on NBC's Red Network on Tuesday, Sept.10, 1935, sponsoring it for 87 episodes through March 28, 1936. The product was integrated into the narrative as a source, in addition to spinach, of Popeye's superhuman strength. Announcer Kelvin Beech would sing, to composer Sammy Lerner's "Popeye" theme, "Wheatena is his diet / He asks you to try it / With Popeye the sailor man". Wheatena reportedly paid King Features Syndicate $1,200 per week.

The show was then broadcast Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:15 – 7:30 p.m. on WABC from August 31, 1936 to February 26, 1937, for 78 episodes. Once again, reference to spinach was conspicuously absent. Now Popeye would sing, "Wheatena's me diet / I ax ya to try it / I'm Popeye the Sailor Man".

Wheatena also sponsored the radio show "Raising Junior", and at least one edition of the promotional proto-comic book, "Funnies on Parade".

In the film "Caddyshack", assistant greenskeeper Carl Spackler mutters to the head greenskeeper (whose nationality is Scottish), "I'll fill your bagpipes with Wheatena."

Nutritional analysis

"Nutrition Facts" as they appear on a 2007 box:"

Ingredients: toasted crushed whole wheat, wheat bran, wheat germ and calcium carbonate.Serving Size: 1/3 cup (dry)Amount Per Serving:
*Calories 160
*Calories from Fat 10
*Total Fat 1
**Saturated Fat 0 grams
**Trans Fat 0g
**Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g
**Monounsaturated Fat 0g
*Cholesterol 0 milligrams
*Sodium 0mg
*Potassium 190mg
*Total Carbohydrate 32g
*Dietary Fiber 55
*Sugars 0g
*Protein 5g
*Vitamin A 0%
*Vitamin C 0%
*Calcium 20%
*Iron 10%
*Riboflavin 4%
*Niacin 10%
*Phosphorus 20%

"Nutrition Facts" as they appear on 2006 box"

Serving Size: 1 cup (141 grams)Amount per Serving
* Calories - 503
* Calories from Fat - 37
* Total Fat - 4.1g
** Saturated Fat - 0.6g
** Polyunsaturated Fat - 2.1g
** Monounsaturated Fat - 0.6g
* Cholesterol - 0mg
* Sodium - 18 milligrams
* Total Carbohydrates - 106.6g
* Dietary Fiber - 18.0g
* Sugars - 2.3g
* Protein - 18.5g% Daily Value, based on a 2000-calorie diet
* Vitamin A - 1%
* Vitamin C - 0%
* Calcium - 4%
* Iron - 28%

Audio

* [http://www.old-time.com/commercials/Sounds/Popeye%20&%20Wheatena.wma 1930s "Popeye the Sailor" Wheatena audio clip]

Video

*National Association of Manufacturers: "Cool Stuff Being Made: How Cereal Is Made - Wheatena": [http://blog.nam.org/archives/2007/01/cool_stuff_bein_55.php article] and [http://www.webcastgroup.com/webcast/window_new/asx2.asp?WebcastID=3117&Bandwidth=high video by the Pennsylvania Cable Network]

References

* [http://www.homestatfarm.com/ Homestat Farm, Ltd.]
* [http://www.old-time.com/commercials/1930's/Popeye%20&%20Wheatena.htm Old-Time Radio Commercials: Selling Stuff During the Golden Age of Radio: "Comic Strip Character Changes Diet for Radio Show", by Danny Goodwin]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cool:@field(DOCID+@lit(lg0573)) "The Golden Heart of the Wheat"] chapter, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?coolbib:1:./temp/~ammem_WqKP:: "The Story of a Pantry Shelf: An Outline History of Grocery Specialties" (Butterick Publishing, New York, c. 1925] , pp. 219-221.
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~thimbletheatre/spotlightradio.html Thimble Theatre Homepage: Spotlight on the Popeye Radio Show]
* [http://www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-othercereals.html Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide: "Other" Cereals — Cereals from Lesser-Known Manufacturers]
* [https://web33.web.ptd.net/cgi-bin/pcntv.com/pcn_store.cgi?cart_id=30839_520&action=view_pcn_tour&profile=176 Pennsylvania Cable Network]
* [http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=69507-homestat-farm-national-uniformity-acrylamide-warning-labels Food Navigator USA (July 31, 2006): "Cereal maker sued for acrylamide under Californian law", by Lorraine Heller]
* [http://www.townhall.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ContentGuid=50db6405-4078-400a-81dd-5920f2cb8655 Townhall.com (Aug. 20, 2006): "Bill Targets State Food Label"]