Post, C. W. (Charles William Post), 1854–1914, American food manufacturer and developer of breakfast cereals, b. Springfield, Ill. He worked (1872–86) selling agricultural machines and invented a number of farm implements. Plagued by nervous breakdowns, he stayed at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek, Mich., sanitarium; the foods used there to promote health inspired him to start his own company. He created a cereal beverage called Postum in 1895 and subsequently developed a number of breakfast cereals. His Postum Cereal Co., which became General Foods Corp. in 1922, was a huge success, and he became wealthy. In 1906 he purchased thousands of acres of W Texas ranchland and developed a utopian farming community, later called Post. In 1951 his Long Island estate was sold to Long Island Univ. and became (1954) C. W. Post College.
See biography by N. L. Maior (1963); C. D. Eaves and C. A. Hutchinson, Post City, Texas (1952).
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