Week 15: The Invention of Cornflakes

While we'll touch upon some of them, um the bulk of this episode is instead going to d rather than talking about any the the huge things that help to shape world history or have lived a long time in the memory, uh we're going to be talking about the invention of cornflakes. Um and some of you Probably already know why there is a a certain um

Very persistent association. Uh th there's something that that's very commonly connected, uh, with the invention of corn flags. Uh that's very amusing, and also not completely true, as we will talk about when we get to

uh the story uh of uh of the invention of cornflakes uh in due course. But in the meantime, Let's uh touch very quickly upon some of those things that took place this week in history that uh were and still are very important, things that have lived a long time in uh in our collective memories.

Um for instance, uh if we go all the way back here to the fourteenth of April in eighteen sixty five, talked about this in episode three hundred nine, this was the day on which the assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place. US President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Four uh at Ford's Theatre on the fourteenth of April in eighteen sixty five, um, by John Wilkes Booth, who, as I mentioned in episode three oh nine,

was quite a famous actor. Now his brother was an even more famous actor. I think the um uh the comparison I made in episode three oh nine was it it it was honestly as though Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by Liam Hemsworth, right? Not not Chris Hemsworth, not the most famous Hemsworth, but, you know, a brother of a famous actor who was himself also a, you know, reasonably well known actor.

But yes, John Wilkes Booth, who was a Confederate sympathizer, um, he uh managed to s not even really sneak his way into Ford's there, he just kinda walked in because again he was a a well-known actor. And uh went up to, you know, the box in which uh Lincoln was sitting with uh his wife and and some other guests, uh, watching the play Our American Cousin.

uh and shot Lincoln in the back of the head and killed him. Uh Bo Booth after this was he was uh pursued. Uh he was himself killed as well in the in the wake of having assassinated Lincoln. Uh but that was the end of uh perhaps one of, or if not the most famous um uh US president in American history. And uh it's not a coincidence, right, that this bloke is as as famous and honestly as revered.

as he is, I think the assassination uh br him him being brought to this this premature and tragic end has a lot to do with his historical legacy. Obviously, you know, he saved the Union, he won the he won the American Civil War. Um, but uh him having his life tragically cut short in this way, uh, is is certainly one of the things that uh that that Lincoln is remembered for. So uh

A very sad day indeed, uh, in American history and uh not the only tragic and well remembered event to have taken place this week in history, because if we move on now to the fifteenth of of April, this time in nineteen twelve This was the day that the Titanic sank. We talked about this in episode two sixty one, of course, the supposedly unsinkable Titanic, the pride of the White Star Line, a huge and opulent ocean liner,

Um it was making its way it's uh across the Atlantic on its maiden voyage, its very first voyage, when of course, as you all know, it struck an iceberg and it sank. It killed around fifteen hundred of the twenty two uh twenty two hundred passengers and crew that were aboard. Everyone's heard of this, of course. Um it's probably it it not even probably. It's the most famous naval disaster in history. Um and uh and also thankfully brought about all sorts of change and reform to maritime safety.

as a result of the needless and senseless loss of life that this disaster uh ended up entailing. But if you want to hear a very detailed account um of uh not just the sinking of the Titanic, but you know, how it was built and the details of its first journey and and all and all the rest and the aftermath as well. Episode two sixty one will get you across all the details, but again another very sad, very tragic uh incident to have taken place uh this week in history.

Sent in by listener Leon Dammer. So, German submarine U-1206 was a type VIIC U-boat. Um, and uh this type of submarine had a brand new and very special facility aboard it. It had a toilet. that could be used while deep underwater. Despite the exterior pressure of, you know, the the water outside the submarine, this toilet could still be flushed even when running at depth. Although interestingly, the flushing no flushing this toilet

was actually a very specialized process and it needed someone specifically trained to do it because if like if it wasn't done properly valves were open in the wrong order or whatever, you could end up flooding the interior of the submarine. So They needed a specialist like engineer on the submarine who was trained on how in how to flush the toilet.

Um anyway, somewhere along the line during this complex process of, you know, of flushing the toilet, someone stuffed it up. I don't know exactly what happened. I couldn't find the details. I don't know if someone, you know, just pinched out the remo the the most ferocious and colossal turd and and the toilet system wasn't equipped to deal with it. I I I I don't know, right?

I don't know what happened, but At one point, right, while U twelve oh six is is running uh beneath the surface of the water, a toilet related malfunction ended up with water flooding through the submarine into the batteries, and this created chlorine gas. Now, of course, as I'm sure you're aware, toilet-related malfunctions often create all sorts of nasty gas. That's not unusual.

But chlorine is uh chlorine gas is particularly nasty in that it will just kill you rather than leaving you, you know pointing fingers and saying things like whoever smelt it dealt it. So the captain, he had to surface the the submarine, uh, to discharge this chlorine gas before it killed everyone.

Um and as soon as the sub surfaced it was immediately spotted by Allied Brit uh British patrols and was bombed, resulting in the U boat being scuttled and three of its crew drowning. All due to this uh this toilet related trade well, no, hm. Again, I don't know that it's right to call it a toilet related tragedy, um, because let's remember it was a

Nazi submarine, after all, filled with Nazis. So honestly, buggerem. That that toilet was well and truly on the right side of history, killing Nazis like that, you would think.

Anyway, we've got some uh some birthdays of some uh some reasonably f well say reasonably famous people. You you've you've heard of these people, they're very famous indeed, and uh one of the reasons you've heard of them is we have done episodes on all of these uh these these famous historical figures, uh all of whom were born this week in history. Number one Going all the way back to episode two oh four here, born on the fifteenth of april fourteen fifty two.

Leonardo da Vinci. He is uh one of the most famous historical figures of all time. Italian polymath. He was an artist, a scientist, an engineer, an architect. I mean the list goes on. This bike did uh he he did a bit of everything. Uh he produced some of the most famous pieces of art that the world has ever seen, you know, the the Motelisa, the Vitruvian Man, The Last Supper. Uh he did sketches of anatomy and cities and machines. He

designed rudimentary flying machines and even tanks. He uh he drew up the plans for buildings, he painted paintings, he invented things. Honestly, one of the one of the keenest and most incredible minds ever to have existed, But for my money, the most interesting thing about Leonardo da Vinci is that we don't know all that much about him personally. This was a bloke who wrote extensively on almost every topic under the sun except for himself.

And this is something we explore in episode two or four. Go back and have a listen to this episode if you haven't already. Learn all about the life and the career and the the the professional activities of Leonardo da Vinci. and be amazed by how little we know of his personal affairs, given what, you know, a prominent figure he was and and still is, um, in in the history of human civilization.

Anyway, happy birthday, Leonardo. Um moving on now to the year fifteen nineteen and the thirteenth of April. Uh it is the birthday of Catherine de Medici, episode two seventy two. Get across it. Catherine de' Medici, an Italian noblewoman who married the French King Henry II, who widely ignored her in favour of a mistress, but then died in a horrific jousting accident.

Uh and after this, uh Catherine took over as regent for her young sons, two of whom died as children, meaning that she was the mother to three different kings of France. and as a result was enormously influential in French politics, um, against a backdrop of

huge political chaos and turmoil with the ongoing wars of religion. Um Catherine de' Medici w one of the most powerful women in French history and still remembered today uh a as a result, a towering figure in uh in sixteenth century French history.

And finally, um speaking of towering figures, Isenbard Kingdom Brunel. Uh this bloke we uh talked about him very recently in episode three hundred ninety four is only a couple of weeks ago, but he was bought on the ninth of April in the year eighteen oh six.

Uh he was of course a British engineer. Uh he built bridges and railroads and ships. Most famously, of course, the Great Eastern, the largest ship in the world at the time. Very famous, very important figure in nineteenth century engineering, innovative and determined and brilliant. But sadly, worked himself into an early grave with his

twenty hour work days and non and the non stop chain smoking of cigars. Um all the same, a a story that's well worth getting across, so if you haven't already listened to episode three ninety four, um it won't even take you too long to scroll down to it and uh and get across it.

We've only got a couple of listener birthdays uh this week, uh after having got got across these historical birthdays. Uh only a few alert I don't know what's going on with um I mean, you know, there were certain periods of the year that it seems that we have we've got

Listeners being born left, right and centre, but then, um yeah, a a a quieter old time, apparently, early early April when it comes to uh the birth of Half House History listeners. Uh only two people uh to wish happy birthday to this week. I I did it I did enjoy getting um Henry Cooper's uh birthday well wish here for h his friend well, I don't even know who's his friend, uh someone he knows.

Loughlin Stevenson could be an enemy, could be someone about whom he feels largely ambivalent. Uh anyway, born on the tenth of of April, Loughlin Stevenson, and here is Henry Cooper's message for Loughlin. It is your birthday period. So Yeah, a couple of fans of the office there, I imagine. All the same, happy b well no, not even happy birthday, Lockie, from all all that Hendo has to say here is uh is is basically just just an acknowledgement that it it is your birthday, period.

And uh another birthday message coming here, uh coming in for uh Johanna Furrah. Apologies if we're not saying that name correctly there, Johanna. Uh born on the thirteenth of April. And David Bolly wrote in to say, me, my girlfriend, uh and soon-to-be-wife are big fans of your podcast. Um Johanna's birthday is coming up on the thirteenth. And she will also defend her PhD in neuroscience in the same week on the seventeenth.

And David signed off with the classic Keep Up the Great Work David and also Keep Up the Great Work Johanna. Happy birthday to you, my friend, and the very best of luck in defending your uh your PhD in neuroscience. I know that this isn't the case, but I cannot help but imagine every time someone talks about defending a PhD they're like strap on plate armour and and, you know, pick up a sword and shield.

and and are ready to do combat with those uh you know with the with the senior professors of a faculty who who are gonna try to, you know, come and attack them. In any case, uh soon to be Dr. Johanna, a very happy birthday to you. Do write in with uh the birthdays that you'd like uh shared on the show, um, particularly those later in the year. Can't get in too early, uh, even though it was a quiet week this this uh time around.

Some of the uh some of the weeks are filling up and I may have to put a limit on on how many birthday wishes there are per week'cause otherwise, you know, that'll it'll it'll stop being this week in history and it'll start being these birthdays that are happening right now. And that's not a great pitch for a history podcast.

Um, but um it's not a hundred percent completely true. You may be disappointed to learn. Um and uh and and when it comes to the second reason, uh well for the first half of this little segment we will be talking, you know, just about cornflakes and and the invention thereof.

Um the the the later half of this segment um is spent discussing th there's a reason I haven't talked about the association with like i in explicit terms what the association with the invention of cornflakes is. Um because it's um I i it's not the sort of topic that would generally be brought up in polite conversation. Uh it uh it it's certainly not a PG topic, and therefore I I warn the uh I warn the custodians of any of the um

smaller ears that la may be listening that the second half of this segment is uh not particularly PG rated. Things may get well, I don't it doesn't get too blue, honestly. I'll you know, I'm not gonna get too explicit. I'll I'll remain broadly euphemistic, um, in in in this discussion, but it still is a discussion of an activity that um tends to be performed when one is uh in the privacy of their own home in

enjoying a a moment of of of solitude. Um and uh for that reason I do feel it probably important. And look, I'll I'll give you the off ramp when we you know, we we got Cornflakes chat coming up and then after that we'll move into talking about something slightly different. And I I'll give you plenty of warning when that time is coming. Um yeah, for any kids listening.

Sorry about that. Maybe maybe come back and listen to the second half of this bit in a few years' time. But in the meantime, we've got something very safe and very family friendly to talk about, and that is, of course, Cornflakes. And Cornflakes Well, they're not very nice, are they? Really. Yeah, sorry.

Doesn't look like I'll be getting that Kellogg sponsorship that I've craved for so long, but there you have it. My integrity is not for sale, mate. If I th if I think a breakfast cereal is boring and plain, I'll bloody well say it. A quick note to advertisers though, I my integrity. is very much for sale and I will vlog anything at all. Seriously, I love money and I have absolutely no scribble, so do get in touch. Anyway, no look.

I don't know how upset Kellogg's would be in any case to actually uh hear me say that cornflakes aren't very nice because That was actually kind of the point. of this breakfast cereal. John Harvey Kellogg purposefully made cornflakes to be not very nice. They were deliberately made to be a bit bland and uninteresting. Now, John Harvey Kellogg was a uh he he was a bit of a strange bloke, to be honest. He was he was the boss of an institution called the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

which was a a health resort run by Seventh Day uh run run run by the Seventh day Adventist Church, of which Kellogg was a a member for much of his life. He had some very odd views on uh on healthful living. Uh in some respects he actually was ahead of his time to give him credit. He was an early believer in the in the germ theory of disease before it caught on properly.

uh he understood things about intestinal bacteria that most medical practitioners weren't ready to hear at the time. Um but he also took this idea of clean liv living to um to a whole new level, uh, th this this fella, because not only did he promote abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, and not only did he believe that a vegetarian diet was absolutely essential to good health, he also believed that uh yeah

sexual activity of any ki of of any kind whatsoever was extremely bad for you. And look, apparently the bloke he practiced what he preached, he reportedly never even consummated his marriage. He instead adopted and fostered kids with his wife. Uh they slept in uh separate rooms for their entire lives. But so look, while while some of his views can certainly rightfully be described as as being ahead of their time, and uh while some other of his views um, you know, it

Just a bit wacko. Um before we dismiss this bloke as, you know, as a as a harmless old crackpot, uh, I do have to tell you that uh He was later in life also an enthusiastic racist and eugenicist, which is certainly not great, not by any means. But um, you know, we're not

We're not gonna focus on the racism and and the eugenics. Uh le let's you know, on this on this frothy light entertainment podcast, let's get back to the breakfast cereals and the wanking. And and while we're at it, also, um the yogurt enemas. How about that? While at the uh the Battle Creek Sanitarium, uh Kellogg offered patients an enema that used yogurt to

clean out your guts, I guess. I dunno. Like first they'd use water, like I believe a regular enema does. But then after that, the second stage of uh of this health healthful process that Kellogg oversaw was to just bung a bunch of yogurt up there while you would also eat a bunch of yogurt at the other end. Um, I don't know what the point of it was, mate. Like what's what's what's he hoping? That the yogurt is gonna, you know, what, meet in the middle? I don't know. In any case.

Yogurt enemas isn't what Kellogg is most famous for. Uh he's also not most famous for the racism or the eugenics, uh quite aside from the yogurt enemas.

He's instead remembered most uh famously for the invention of corn flakes. Now Kellogg, he worked on the development of a range of different foods, um, all of them vegetarian, and most of them

quite deliberately, very bland and very easy to digest. He'd get grains and nuts and he'd grind and bake and boil them in uh in eighteen eighty one he released a cereal called Granula Um but this was already the name of the first ever breakfast cereal invented by a bloke whose name was James Caleb Jackson, and uh this uh this fella threatened to sue Kellogg when he brought his granular to market,

And so Kellogg changed uh the name of this cereal to Granola and so look ha look who had the last laugh there, because we still call this sort of stuff granola these days and would look at something like granula as being a weird typo. Anyway, in f in in eighteen ninety-four, Kellogg was still working on various breakfast cereals. He's still mucking around, trying trying different things, trying to invent these uh the these new, you know, bland and and and easy to digest uh morning meals.

And it was around this time that he invented cornflakes. Probably, maybe, it might not have been him. Honestly, it might have actually been his brother Will, uh, who always claimed that he was the true inventor of of the cornflake, not John, it was Will Kellogg according to him.

In any case, one day in 1894, one of the Kellogg boys, whether it was John or Will, we're not a hundred percent certain, one of them left out a batch of dough, right? They left it this batch of dough out out they le they left it out overnight by mistake. And came back to it in the morning, um, and realized, you know, it it uh it's gone a bit crook after being left out in the air all night. But hey, you know, we'll still still have a go. See if we can get anything out of it.

So tried to roll it out flat to turn it into uh into a cereal. And um what happened was when this when this slightly stale dough that had been left out overnight, when it was rolled out, it flaked. It cracked apart into these crispy, crunchy flakes, and when they were baked. this was the first batch of corn flakes. Now, some stories say that this idea of leaving the dough out overnight and then rolling it, some there are some stories about this coming this idea coming to Kellogg in a dream.

I dunno, man, obviously there's there's so much folklore surrounding this invention and and and and and indeed not just the invention of cornflex, but also the purpose of them, as we'll come to. I I d I don't know how much of it is true. But in any case this dough, when it was rolled, it broke into these, you know, these crispy crunchy flakes, um, which was the result of a process called tempering, which Kellogg, one of them.

uh had accident accidentally discovered in leaving the dough out. The brothers at this point they started to work together. Uh the Kellogg boys investigated this process. They were soon able to replicate it, and this meant that they could they could continue to create these crispy crunchy flakes. Which they deem to be perfect for a bland and easy to digest breakfast.

So John Harvey Kellogg, keen to make the most of this discovery, he lodged a patent application for this flaked cereal, um, and this patent application was duly granted This week in history, on the 14th of April 1896, Kellogg received a patent.

for this new breakfast cereal, Cornflakes. And what's interesting is this patent was issued to John and John alone. Will's name was nowhere to be seen, and hence John Harvey Kellogg, rather than Will Kellogg, is generally remembered as the inventor of cornflakes rather than his brother, but who honestly, who knows what the truth of the matter is.

Certainly there remained a fair bit of tension between the two as uh as the years went on. Uh for instance, upon them taking this new flaked cereal to market, Wills suggested to his brother that they add sugar to the cereal to, you know, actually make it like

Tastes nice, but oh mate, the health conscious John, ho, he's having none of it. Absolutely not. He says good, clean living. That's all you need. You don't need tasty food, you need bland and boring food. Nothing better for you than that. Now, Will, hand me that uh do do us a favor, hand me that yoga there. Oh, no, no, no.

Not not not that one. No, no, no. Put that one back you. You bet you um you you better go and wash your hands there, Will mate. But no, look in the in the end, um these uh these two brothers they actually fell out altogether. Uh and interestingly it was it was Will Kellogg, not John, that first established the Kellogg's brand that we know today. Um it was instituted in nineteen oh six as the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company. How's that for a name?

Um eventually the name was changed to uh to Kellogg's. And um John actually sued Will over the use of the family name. The two they were at each other for years. Um they never made up either. They they they took the few to the grave. Anyway

Will Kellogg mass marketed cornflakes and they have been a staple of many breakfast tables ever since. Um certainly, once again, on the more boring side as far as cereals go, I think most people will agree. Uh there's look, I'll put it this way.

They're not one that you're fighting your siblings for in the Variety Eight Pack on the school holidays. I I I think that's a uh a a fair statement. And and again, this was very much by design. As mentioned, John Harvey Kellogg was a big believer in what he called A pure and unstimulating diet. Yes, yes. Unstimulating where uh w we're getting to it. We're we're almost there. Um Kellogg

John Kellogg wrote extensively on his philosophies when it came to diet and nutrition. He advocated for the consumption of plain and simple foods, you know, no spices, no condiments, nothing, just grains and fruits and and veggies. He believed that a diet of this kind offered immense health benefits, along with plenty of fresh air and sunshine and drinking enough water each day to drown a horse. And he also believed that a great threat to healthy living was, as I as I said before,

Sexual activity of any kind whatsoever. And um this is the this is the point at which this discussion is going to um start to incorporate some rather more adult themes and and references to things that um Might be appropriate for all listeners, so um To to those of you who will be leaving us here, I bid you a fond farewell and I'll see you in the next one. But um for those of you still with us who want to get into all the gory details about what uh John Harvey Kellogg thought about the uh

Disgusting habit of cranking down. Well, you're in luck because we have got an absolute ripper of the tail to get across here. Have a listen to this. There is a uh a a very long standing, very persistent story in connection with the invention of cornflakes that Kellogg invented them specifically as a uh as a way to suppress the sexual urges of adolescent boys. In other words,

Cornflakes as a bland and boring cereal were supposed to diminish the urges of adolescent kids to want to masturbate. Um there as we're gonna discover, there is not a huge amount of truth to that in in the specifics. There is some broader general truth, particularly when it comes to what Kellogg thought of masturbation,

But it's not quite true to say that Kellogg invented cornflakes to stop teenage boys from cranking down. Um certainly his invention of of of cornflakes as as a bland and unin an uninteresting food. was in alignment with his broader views and philosophies on clean living and and and and health. But again, not quite accurate to say that

one directly followed the other and that cornflakes were designed to stop you from having a wank. Um having said that, we can now talk about Kellogg's views on masturbation and how they perhaps informed his other views on things like clean living and healthy eating and all the rest of it. Um, I will tell you though, Some of the stuff that he wrote about um about cranking down is absolutely unbelievable. Um this bloke was

weirdly obsessed with masturbation. As in he didn't lie he was he was very fervently anti masturbation. He thought it was one of the the greatest evils, as, you know, I'll quite clearly illustrate to you as I read to you some of the stuff that he wrote about what he called, interestingly, the solitary vice.

Weird name, I don't know, it depends on depends on your grip, I suppose. I wouldn't have thought you'd want it to be like a a vi Oh no, right. V probably yeah, no, he probably means vice like yeah, okay, no, that that that makes more sense actually. No, quite seriously, um Kellogg he he wrote a lot of stuff on matters like these, and uh it's in his eighteen eighty seven book Plain Facts for Old and Young, Embracing the Natural History and Hygiene of Organic Life.

It's in this book you will find a chapter dedicated to unchastity, and an entire section, right? Like dozens and dozens of pages. uh of this chapter is given over to discussing the solitary vice. Um it is it is well worth a read if you've got the time. It's available online for free. It's got some pretty amusing bits and pieces in there, although it does get

Really full on. Um, as you'll see. Here are some highlights taken from this section on The Solitary Vice from uh from Kellogg's book. Even though no warning may have been given, the transgressor seems to know instinctively that he is committing a great wrong, for he carefully hides his practice from observation. Well, yeah, mate. I mean, come on, what do you want? I'm not I'm not gonna do it in public. Bloody hell, who who do you think I am? Diogenes?

I'll continue. The extent to which the vice is practiced by an individual is in some cases appalling. Three or four repetitions of the act daily are not uncommon. But yeah, mate, three or four times there are There are only so many hours in the day. Who's who's got the time? Three or four times people doing okay. All right. Um I'll continue. In my opinion, this is wild.

In my opinion, neither the plague, nor war, nor smallpox, nor similar diseases have produced results so disastrous to humanity as this pernicious habit. It is the destroying element of civilized society. Well, doesn't doesn't that explain a lot about the current state of the world? Everything everything's gone down the gurgler because, you know, we we've all been cranking down too much. Thr thr three or four times a day in some cases I hear. But how about this one? This this is

unhinged, this next bit. This is a longer passage, but have a listen to this, right? This is th this is this is how much this guy hated people having a wank. Professor Lusk of Bellevue Hospital College, New York, related to his medical class in our hearing a case which came under his observation, in which all of the children in a large family were had been taught the habit by a wicked nurse, for the purpose of keeping them quiet after they were put to bed.

The vileness that would lead a person to thus rob childhood of its innocence and blast its prospects for this life and the next, is base enough for the commission of almost any crime. Indeed, the and this is this things things are about to take Quite a turn here, so hold on to your hats. Indeed, the crime could hardly have been a worse one had the nurse referred to in the above case in cold blood cut the throats of those innocent children. Perhaps it might have been better for the children.

A gentleman once declared that if he should detect a person teaching this crime to his child, he would shoot him on the spot. And if homicide is allowable under any circumstances, it seems to us it would be extenuated by such an aggravation.

The use of stimulants of any kind is a fruitful cause of the vice. Tea and coffee have led thousands to perdition in this way, The influence of tobacco is so strongly shown in this direction that it is doubtful if there can be found a boy who has attained the age of puberty and has acquired the habit of using tobacco, who is not also addicted to this vile practice.

Candies, spices, cinnamon, cloves, peppermint, and all strong essences powerfully excite the genital organs and lead to the same result. Wine, beer, tea, and coffee should be taken under no circumstances. The influence of coffee in stimulating the genital organs is notorious.

I mean, yeah, I'd I I don't know about you, but I f mate, I can't help myself after a cappuccino or a couple of tic-tacks. He's he's absolutely spot on. There no look, quite s quite seriously, this goes on for pages and pages, this stuff. Uh Kellogg links having a cheeky wank to things like

Epilepsy and tuberculosis. Again, he he was bonkers, but This popular story that cornflakes were specifically developed by these guys as a specific remedy for chronic masturbation, that they were designed to suppress any urges that people might get to have a wank. As n it's not quite it. Um but honestly again it's it's not completely untrue either. It's not that Cornflakes specifically were invented by John Harvey Keller to combat the

vile and abominable sin of the solitary vice. It's more that they were part of a wider dietary and nutritional philosophy that he had that, um

But I don't know, eating tasty food gives you the horn, apparently. So it it does sound like he had his own stuff to work through there, honestly. Anyway, both the ludicrous things that this guy believed and wrote about when it came to cranking down and his involvement in the invention of cornflakes, um both of these things do relate to his perspectives on health.

And therefore it seems that over the years, um, they have become so fully conflated by various people that there is now this enduring myth that cornflakes were invented to stop teenage boys having a wank. Not completely false, but also only true in a sort of roundabout and also somewhat selective way. But it does make for a terrific headline, and so people have picked up this idea and and they've run with it.

It is, in the end, less that Kellogg believed that cornflakes would put a stop to the solitary vice, and more believed that bland food, like cornflakes, as part of his approach to good, clean living, combated certain habits that he considered to be odious and vile.

All the same, I I I did find it really interesting that to oh hang on, jeez, is that is that the time already? Oh my goodness. Sorry everyone, I've this it's completely run away with me here. I actually um I've I've got to cut it short there. I I had a uh handful of of M and M's and and a coffee before I started recording, so I'm gonna uh Yeah, if I if I'm gonna get my fourth time into that I'm gonna have to get a wriggle on here, so um actually yeah, sorry, make sure