The invention of shredded wheat by Henry Perky

Shredded wheat was the first ready-to-eat commercial breakfast cereal. It was introduced in Denver in 1893 by lawyer Henry Drushel Perky.

Perky had invented a machine that flattened cooked wheat between two steel rollers, similar to the apparatus used for rolling oats. In addition, he added devices that shredded wheat flakes and then formed the shreds into biscuits.

On July 31, 1893, Perky patented a machine for the manufacture of shredded wheat. He originally displayed the invention at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in the ‘Coarse and Dry Wonders of Tomorrow Pavilion’.

Perky wanted to sell the machinery but instead found himself selling its product from wagons on the street.

The National Biscuit Company subsequently bought the rights to Perky’s invention, Despite extensive advertising, shredded wheat sales never took off until the 1920s - well after the patent had expires.
The invention of shredded wheat by Henry Perky