From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the cereal market started to emerge. Invented  in western New York, before long it became popular. With the creation of brands like Kellogg, Quaker Oats, cereal would secure its position as a national breakfast food. This pamphlet put together by The Cereal Manufacturing Company in 1878 served as advertisement for their brand. Advertising in America started in a big way after the Civil War (1861-1865).

The company's mills were located along the Atlantic Dock in Red Hook. Their prime placement would allow them access to the harbor for shipping, and to the bustling market and commerce that was occurring in New York City. They were at the crossroads of industrial and commercial society. Moreover, the warehouse docks of Red Hook were the major hub for American grain. Canal boats brought in grain from the farms of New York and mid-west states. Warehouses and floating grain elevators stored the grain, until it was bought and shipped out on larger vessels to US and international ports.  

The pamphlet begins by saying that “educated, intelligent, thinking men begin to recognize the necessity of a property selected diet for themselves and their families.” Touting their brand as the best option, and also giving some insight into the gender roles of the time. 

The Cereal Manufacturing Company also utilizes the analogy of a farmer who has learned from the land how to provide for himself and his family, to make a connection between nature and the importance of food, stressing a preference to natural products. (Not that 1870-1900 was a great time to be a farmer in America, because of droughts and stiff composition from abroad.)

The brand also employs a drawing in the advancement of science. They talk about the new age of awareness of nutrition and its impact on lifestyle and health. 

 “The universal introduction of these cereals, among the laboring classes especially, would be a blessing. There is no other article of food so well adapted for the manufacturer of muscle and brain.”