Will Keith Kellogg (1860-1951)

Will Keith Kellogg was business manager of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, founder of the Kellogg Company and founder of the W.K Kellogg foundation.

Born on April 7, 1860 to John Preston Kellogg and Ann Janette Stanley Kellogg, he was christened ‘Willie Keith Kellogg’ but he detested his first name, and legally changed it to ‘Will’ in 1898.

Will Kellogg received little formal education, becoming an apprentice broom maker at age 11, and at the age of fourteen Will began working as a salesman for his father’s broom business. He used a horse and buggy to travel from town to town, For longer sale trips Will sometimes took a train.

In April 1880, Will was hired by his brother John Kellogg as his assistant at Battle Creek Sanitarium. In the late 1880s, the brothers established the Sanitas Food Company to market their culinary innovations.

Will Kellogg with his broom 

After many experiments, in 1894 Kellogg brothers perfected the process for flaking grains.  It was first served to the patients as the Sanitarium and later sold by the Sanitas Food Company.

In 1906, Will struck off on his own to form the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Eventually the renamed Kellogg Company became the world’s largest purveyor of ready-to-eat breakfast cereal.

Kellogg grew his business by masterful and audacious advertising and creative promotions. One campaigns urged housewives to wink at their grocer; those brave enough to do so received a free sample of Toasted Corn Flakes.

The company grew to be the largest manufacturer of ready-to-eat cereals in the world. Will Keith Kellogg passed away on October 6, 1951.
Will Keith Kellogg (1860-1951)