Henry Drushel Perky (December 7, 1843 – June 29, 1906) was a lawyer, businessman, promoter and inventor. Perky is the inventor of
shredded wheat.
Early life
He was born in
Saltcreek township,
Holmes County, Ohio
Holmes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,223. Its county seat is Millersburg. The county was formed in 1824 from portions of Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties and organize ...
, the fifth son of Daniel Jefferson Perky ( 1808–1862) and Magdalena Drushel (c. 1812–1911), both of Pennsylvania. He married his wife Susanna Melissa Crow (born 1845) on August 3, 1865, in
Mount Hope, Ohio. He studied law and was admitted to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
. He was elected to the
Nebraska State Senate in 1868 when only twenty-five years old (although other sources suggest he represented the eighth district from 1874 to 1876). The couple lived at
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, and
Wahoo, Nebraska
Wahoo (; from Dakota ; " arrow wood") is a city and county seat of Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,508 at the 2010 census.
History
Wahoo was founded in 1870. The town's name comes from the eastern wahoo ('' Euo ...
, before 1880. Henry went to
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
for his health in 1880 where he was an attorney for the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
. Sue followed from Wahoo later that same year and, in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado, she gave birth to their only surviving child, Scott Henry Perky (born 1880).
Scott H. Perky went on to be a writer; the life of his father was the subject of one of his books. In 1920, he developed a round shredded wheat cereal, which he named Muffets. The Muffets Corporation was sold to the Quaker Oats Company in 1927.
Perky was a vegetarian.
[Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael. (2004). ''Vegetarian America: A History''. Praeger. p. 121. ]
Steel Car Company
In 1884, the assets – a patent and a half-finished car – of the bankrupt Robbins Cylindrical Steel Car Company were acquired by Byron A. Atkinson (born 1854), a well-to-do
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
furniture dealer with some background as a machinist. To promote his cylindrical steel rail passenger car, Atkinson hired Henry Perky, who had quite a reputation for making money during times that ruined other businessmen. Their firm was the Steel Car Company.
While the railcar was being built, Perky was busy trying to find a place to build a huge plant for building steel cars. He first proposed Chicago, Illinois, but when this did not generate significant interest, in 1888 he proposed
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
, and there the car would be named the "City of Lincoln". This idea too failed to catch on, so Perky moved on.
Perky finally found backing in
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
, and there, in late 1888, at a cost of some $70,000, he erected a building on a large plot of land east of the city "beyond Wyatt Park". He also organized an exposition, to be called the National Railway, Electric and Industrial Exposition, but more popularly known as the "New Era Exposition". The exposition was set up on the grounds of the Steel Car Company, with the western portion of its building as the main hall of the exposition.
On the night of September 15, 1889, a fire swept through the main building of the exposition. The ten cars being built, the Steel Car Company plant, and all the assets of the Steel Car Company were a total loss. Perky, not one to be easily discouraged, took the original Robbins car (that had been outfitted as a private car for Atkinson's personal use) for a transcontinental tour. Though it attracted a good deal of attention, it attracted no orders.
The cylindrical car was shown at the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...
in Chicago, Illinois, but again attracted no orders. Although almost $40,000 had been spent on it, when the exposition closed, the railcar was abandoned on the fairgrounds and later sold by the firm that dismantled the Exposition.
Shredded Wheat Company
In the early 1890s, at a
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
hotel, Perky, suffering from diarrhea, encountered a man similarly afflicted, who was eating boiled wheat with cream. The idea simmered in Perky's mind, and in 1892, he took his idea of a product made of boiled wheat to his friend, William H. Ford, in
Watertown, New York
Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by th ...
— a machinist by trade. Here they developed the machine for making what Perky called "little whole wheat mattresses", known as
shredded wheat. They presented the machine at the
1893 Columbian Exposition, probably while Perky was trying to attract buyers for his cylindrical steel rail passenger car.
His original intention was to sell the machines, not the biscuits. He returned to
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and began distributing the biscuits from a horse-drawn wagon in an attempt to popularize the idea. There he founded the Cereal Machine Company. Perky received United States Patent Number 548,086, dated October 15, 1895.
The biscuits proved more popular than the machines, so Perky moved east and opened a bakery in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, and then in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, in 1895, retaining the name of the Cereal Machine Company, and adding the name Shredded Wheat Company.
Whether he developed his ideas on nutrition before the machine or after, Perky was a
food faddist who believed the fundamental issue was how to nourish a man so that his condition will be natural. Although
John Harvey Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg (February 26, 1852 – December 14, 1943) was an American medical doctor, nutritionist, inventor, health activist, eugenicist, and businessman. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. The ...
and
Charles William Post are better known, Perky was a pioneer of the "cookless breakfast food" and he was the first to mass-produce and nationally distribute ready-to-eat cereal. By 1898, shredded wheat was being sold in North and South America and Europe.
In 1901, drawn by the idea of inexpensive electrical power for baking, and the natural draw of a popular tourist attraction, he hired
Edward A. Deeds
Edward Andrew Deeds (March 12, 1874 – July 1, 1960) was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio, area. He was the president of the National Cash Register Company and, together with Charles F. Kettering, ...
to build a new plant at
Niagara Falls, New York. Deeds became a director of the National Food Company. Perky invited a large number of notables to a special luncheon. Canadian author Pierre Berton describes the bill of fare: "a Shredded Wheat drink, Shredded Wheat biscuit toast, roast turkey stuffed with Shredded Wheat, and Shredded Wheat ice cream". The factory itself was called the "Palace of Light", and was white-tiled, air-conditioned, well-lit with floor to ceiling windows, and equipped with showers, lunchrooms (a free lunch for women – men had to pay 10¢), and auditoriums for the employees. It had a roof garden with a view of the falls. A representation of the factory appeared on the Shredded Wheat boxes for decades.
Retirement
![Rod and gun (1898) (14781389664)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Rod_and_gun_%281898%29_%2814781389664%29.jpg)
In 1902, Perky retired from the company and disposed of his interest. He published a book on nutrition and
oral hygiene
Oral hygiene is the practice of keeping one's mouth clean and free of disease and other problems (e.g. bad breath) by regular brushing of the teeth (dental hygiene) and cleaning between the teeth. It is important that oral hygiene be carried out ...
, ''Wisdom vs. Foolishness'', that went through at least ten editions. Having made his fortune, the following year Perky arrived in
Glencoe, Maryland
Glencoe is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Glencoe was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's off ...
, and began purchasing large tracts of land in the region. His dream was to build a boarding school for men and women that would offer an innovative curriculum of scientific farming and
domestic science
Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...
subjects free of tuition. The main building was completed, elaborate brochures were printed and a few students had enrolled. The plans for the dedication were in place when Perky died days before the grand opening and the O'Read School never opened.
Henry D. Perky died on June 29, 1906, at his farm in Glencoe. His obituary stated that he had been ill for a long time and that a fall from a horse a month earlier had hastened his death. He is buried in Glencoe, Maryland.
Shredded Wheat Company sold to Nabisco
In 1908, the company again took the name of the Shredded Wheat Company, and another factory was built in Niagara Falls. A third plant was added in
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...
, in 1904, known as the Canadian Shredded Wheat Company. By 1915 the Pacific Coast Shredded Wheat Company had been added in Oakland, California, and by 1925, a factory in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, in
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
, Hertfordshire, had joined the family.
In December 1928, the company was sold to
National Biscuit Company. The product name became Nabisco Shredded Wheat circa 1941. Production of Shredded Wheat was begun in
Naperville, Illinois
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
in 1970. All other plants remained in operation until 1954, when the original "Palace of Light" was shuttered.
Patents
* — Machine for the Preparation of Cereals for Food, granted August 1, 1893
* — Machine for the Manufacture of Food Products from Cereals, granted May 29, 1894
* — Machine for the Manufacture of Food Products from Cereals, granted June 26, 1894
* — Receiving-Trough and Cutter for Cereal-Reducing Machines, granted January 8, 1895
* — Perforated-Roll Machine for Reducing Cereals for Food, granted January 15, 1895
* — Roll-Machine for Reducing Cereals for Food, granted January 15, 1895
* — Groove-Roll Machine for Reducing Cereals for Food, granted January 15, 1895
*, , , — Roll-Machine for Reducing Cereals for Food, granted February 5, 1895
* — Machine for Reduction and Preparation of Cereals for Food, granted February 5, 1895
* — Design for a Biscuit, issued September 17, 1895
* — Bread and Method of Preparing Same, granted October 15, 1895
* — Apparatus for Preparing Grain for Reducing-Machines, granted October 15, 1895
* — Design for a Cereal Cup, issued March 31, 1896
* — Machine for Reducing and Preparing Cereals for Food, granted November 10, 1896
* — Machine for Reducing Cereals, granted November 10, 1896
* — Coffee-Roaster, granted January 26, 1897
* — Roll Reducing-Machine for Preparing Food, granted February 8, 1898
* — Design for a Wafer, issued June 7, 1898
* — Game Apparatus, granted September 27, 1898
* — Machine for Reducing Cereal Food Products to Form for Use, granted November 15, 1898
* — Apparatus for Making Folded Wafers, granted January 24, 1899
* — Machine for Reducing and Baking Cereals in Form, granted May 23, 1899
* — Apparatus for Manufacturing Cereals into Forms of Food or Bread, granted February 12, 1901
* — Machine for Reducing Food Material to Form and Distributing Same, granted July 9, 1901
* — Pneumatic Panning or Distributing Machine, granted July 16, 1901
* — Continuous Heating and Baking Machine, granted August 27, 1901
* — Continuous Cutting-Machine, granted August 27, 1901
* — Design for a Carton-Blank, issued December 31, 1901
* — Design for a Stove, issued August 12, 1902
* — Filamentous Cracker, granted November 18, 1902
* — Continuous Motion Heating and Evaporating Apparatus, granted December 8, 1903
* — Stove, granted December 22, 1903
* — Machine for Preparing Food, granted August 22, 1905
Posthumously granted:
* — Machine for Manufacturing Cereal Biscuit, granted February 4, 1908
* — Apparatus for Continuous Cooking, granted September 15, 1908
* — Machine for Reducing Grain Products to Composite Forms of Food, granted February 16, 1909
* — Reducing Disk Machine for the Manufacture of Cereal Products, granted February 23, 1909
* — Machine for Manufacturing Grain into Form for Food, granted May 23, 1909
* — Manufacture of Food from Cereals, granted March 14, 1911
* — Variegated Corn Filament, granted March 14, 1911
* — Machine for Manufacturing Grain into Form for Food, granted April 18, 1911
* — Process of Manufacturing Grain into Form for Food, granted March 12, 1912
* — Reducing Ground Grain to Elongated or Filament Form, granted March 26, 1912
* — Machine for Manufacturing Grain into Form for Food, granted April 9, 1912
* — Food from Grain and Method of Making the Same, granted May 14, 1912
* — Form of Food from Grain and Method of Manufacturing the Same, granted May 6, 1913
* — Process of Manufacturing Cereal Food, granted June 10, 1913
* — Compound Forms, granted April 28, 1914
* — Means for Reducing Cereal Products to Form, granted June 15, 1915
* — Machine for Manufacturing Grain into Form for Food, granted July 13, 1915
* — Machine for Manufacturing Grain into Form for Food, granted July 20, 1915
References
*United States. Census Office. 7th census, 1850. Census of population, 1850.
*United States. Census Office. 8th census, 1860. Census of population, 1860.
*United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880. Census of population, 1880.
*United States. Census Office. 12th census, 1900. Census of population, 1900.
*United States. Census Office. 13th census, 1910. Census of population, 1910.
*United States. Census Office. 14th census, 1920. Census of population, 1920.
*International Genealogical Index;Sealings for the dead, couples and children 1943–1970; heir indexes, 1943–1968. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Logan Temple.
*"Destroyed by Fire – The New Era Exposition at St. Joseph, Mo., Burned", ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', September 17, 1889, p. 5.
*"The Natural Food Company Incorporated at Albany with Capital Stock of $10,000,000", ''The New York Times'', December 15, 1900, p. 13.
*"Consider Employes Welfare", ''The New York Times'', January 30, 1904, p. 9.
*"Perky Leaves Food Company – Wishes to Devote Entire Time to O'Read Institute Venture", ''The New York Times'', July 31, 1904, p. 16.
*"Henry D. Perky Dead – He was an Advocate of Vegetarianism – End Hastened by Fall", ''The New York Times'', June 30, 1906, p. 7.
*US Patent and Trademark Office (see Patents above)
''Kellogg Co. vs. National Biscuit Company'', 305 U.S. 111, 1938Price, Gregory, “Cereal Sales Soggy Despite Price Cuts and Reduced Couponing” ''Food Review'', May–August 2000.*Berton, Pierre: ''Niagara A History of the Falls''. Toronto, Ontario: Anchor Canada, 2002, 504 pages
*
700 Famous Nebraskans*Williams, Edward Theodore, ''Niagara, Queen of Wonders: A Graphic History of the Big Events in Three Centuries Along the Niagara Frontier, One of the Most Famous Regions in the World: Including Early Explorations, Early Fascinating Literature, Early Wars, and the First and Greatest Electrical Power Development: A Discussion of and Data Pertaining to the Large Subject of the Conservation of Natural Resources, of Nation-Wide Interest, Together With the Creation and Development of the City of Niagara Falls''. Boston: Chapple Pub. Co., 1916, 236 pgs. p. 104–110
*Anonymous, ''The Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-Eight: Fifty Years a City: A Graphic Presentation of Its Institutions, Industries and Leaders''. Worcester, Mass.: F.S. Blanchard & Co., 1899, 808 pgs. p. 518–521
*Perky, Scott H.
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', January 21, 1929.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perky, Henry D.
1843 births
1906 deaths
19th-century American inventors
Diet food advocates
People from Holmes County, Ohio
People from Omaha, Nebraska
People from Wahoo, Nebraska