Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 years ago
In truth, William Post was an accidental inventor, and he graciously insisted throughout his life that his great creation was a team effort. And his start in the snack business came as a truck washer.
Transcript
00:00 Pop-Tarts have been an iconic American snack for 60 years.
00:04 They were invented by William Post, a Michigan native who said his creation was actually
00:08 a team effort.
00:10 Post started working as a truck washer at the age of 16 before eventually working his
00:14 way up to plate manager for the United Biscuit Company.
00:17 One day he got a call from Kellogg's saying they wanted to create something for the toaster.
00:22 They didn't know how to do it.
00:23 Kellogg's wanted to create a product to compete with a breakfast pastry called Country
00:27 Squares.
00:28 One day, four Kellogg's executives visited Post to show him their prototype of a pie-like
00:32 pastry with "fork marks around the edge and two pieces of dough with some filling
00:36 in it" according to Post.
00:38 It took a few months for the iconic Pop-Tarts to come to life, mostly because of the heavy
00:42 machinery that would be involved in baking them.
00:45 Crafting this connection would end up requiring 60 ton pieces of equipment.
00:49 The product was first called a fruit scone, but its lasting name was a nod to the pop
00:53 culture movement of the time according to Pop-Tarts brand history.
00:57 The Pop-Tarts officially launched in Cleveland, Ohio in 1964 with four flavors - strawberry,
01:03 blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon, and apple currant.
01:06 Post, who is dubbed as Pop-Tarts' official inventor, passed away at the age of 96 with
01:11 an estimated net worth of about $8 million.
01:14 He enjoyed Pop-Tarts well into his 90s and always kept a sleeve of the pastry in his
Comments

Recommended