Home Cooking with The Quaker Oats Company

Company History

In 1901 a group of millers, operating under the name American Cereal Company, reorganized and formed the Quaker Oats Company.  The roots of the Quaker Oats story can be found in the individual stories of those early grain millers.

The original idea of marketing oats as a breakfast food in America and the perseverance of the stubborn German immigrant Ferdinand Schumacher had created a demand for oatmeal.

Henry Seymour and William Heston had trademarked the name Quaker Oats and the Quaker logo at their Ravenna, Ohio mill 23 years before.

Henry P. Crowell was a firm believer in the power of advertising, and was the first to initiate the use of a brand name (Quaker Oats) and product  packaging (from barrels to 2-lb packages) to nationally market and promote a breakfast cereal.  His vision and leadership set the stage for many of the modern consumer advertising and marketing methods we are familiar with today.

John and Robert Stuart, along with George B. Douglas had large, established cereal mills located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Chicago.

The Quaker Oats Company chose Chicago for their company headquarters because of it's central proximity to all of the company's oatmeal plants.

In 1926 the Quaker Oats Company purchased Aunt Jemima, a competitor and rival in the breakfast food market.

Quaker Oats entered the children's cereal market in the 1961 with Life Cereal, Cap'n Crunch in 1963 and Quisp Cereal in 1965.  Cinnamon Life was introduced in 1978.

They entered the beverage market in 1983 with the purchase of Stokely-Van Camp who owned the Gatorade brand.

They purchased the Golden Grain company, makers of Rice-A-Roni, in 1986.

Finding success with Gatorade, they acquired the Snapple Beverage Company in 1994.  The Snapple brand did not meet their expectations and was sold to Triarc in 1997.

PepsiCo, Inc., who sought the acquisition of the Gatorade brand, bought the Quaker Oats Company in August 2001.

Visit the Quaker Oats Company Websites: You can find recipes and product information on the Quaker Oats Company brand names at their company websites Quaker Oats and Quaker Oatmeal.

Quaker Oats Cookbooks and Recipe Booklets

• Meet The Quaker Oats Family Of Quality Products. Not dated, 6 pp.
• One Of 27 Recipes. Chicago. Not dated, 19 pp.
• Those Picture Pretties. Not dated, 6 pp.
• Masa Harina New Cookbook. Not dated, 16 pages.
• Adventures in Corn Meal Cookery! Not dated.
• The Story Behind the Quaker Man. Not dated, circa 1960's. Pamphlet and postcard 
• Quaker Oats Recettes. 1938, 20 pp. (text and recipes in French)
• Friendly Foods from the Quaker Oats Kitchen.  Not dated, circa 1920's, leaflet.
• Quaker Cereal Products and How to Use Them. 1927, 52 pp.
• Aunt Jemima's Album Of Secret Recipes. 1935, 33pp.
• 26 Delicious New Recipes Featuring Healthful Quaker Oats. Not dated, circa 1940's, 18 pp.
• Quaker Surprise Recipes. Circa 1950's, 27 pp. 
• My 40 Favorite Recipes.  1959, 38 pp.
• From the Quaker Oats Company quantity test kitchens come these carefully selected recipes. (Recipe Card Collection) Circa 1962.
• 'Round the Clock Recipes.  1963, 47 pp.
• Our Favorites for Family and Friends. 1967, 47 pp 
• Budget Saving Recipes. 1969, 35pp.
• Morning to Midnight Cook Book - 340 Unexpected Treats from Aunt Jemima. 1969, 118 pp.
• All-Time Any Time Recipes. 1973, 49 pp.
• The Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook. Chicago, 1978 63 pp (1st prtg)
• Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook. 1979, 63 pp.
• Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook. 1980, 1981, 1982
• Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook.  Circa 1980 (Quaker Oats of Canada), 41 pp.
• Stretching Food Dollars. Not dated, circa 1980's, 37 pp.
• Sow Some Oats Cookbook - Souvenir from Quaker Square. 1985, 10 pp
• Hurry, Let's Eat! 1986, 48 pp
• Quaker Oats Oat Meals - The Right Thing to Do. 1988, 13 pp.
• Favorite Recipes - Quaker Oat Bran. 1989, 96 pp.
• The 12 Feasts of Christmas. 1990. 8 pp. (magazine insert)
• Quaker Oats and Crisco Make Your Holidays Delicious. 1991, 12 pp. (magazine insert)
• Quaker Oats Treasury of Best Recipes. 1992, 64 pp.
• Countless Ways to Eat Quaker Rice Cakes. 1993, 20 pp
• Bake It Better with Quaker Oats. 1994, 96 pp
• Quaker Oats Favorite Recipe Collection. 1997, 96 pages (Time-Life)

QUAKER OATS ADVERTISING

During the late 1800's people were not particular and  purchased their oatmeal scooped from a barrel with no regard or care as to where it came from.  The men at Quaker Oats changed all that.  Rather than trying to appeal to wholesalers and retailers, they began to try and attract the consumer directly.

The Quaker Oats company saturated the country with advertising for their products.

Free half-ounce sample boxes of oatmeal were given away by salesmen who combed the nation door-to-door.  They sponsored exhibits at fairs and expositions where they offered prepared oatmeal and cereal samples in their booths and explained the production process through fancy displays.

A gift premium plan, called the Cereta Plan, was established.  Quaker Oats advertising could be found in newspapers and magazines, on billboards, metal signs and calendars, as well as in cookbooks and on trade cards and flyers.

They were successful:  consumers soon began to ask their grocers for oatmeal by the Quaker brand name.