History of rolled oats

Rolled oats are made by slicing raw oats into a confetti-like mixture that is steamed and then rolled into flakes and dried.

Oat milling took a great step forward with the invention of a groat-cutting machine by Ehrrichsen in 1877.

Ehrrichsen was employed in an oatmeal mill owned by Ferdinand Schumacher, of Akron, Ohio, who was the known as the oats meal King and later was one of the founders of The Quaker Oats Company.

Schumacher installed new technology in his mills where oats processing to be much less time than whole or steel cuts oats, making them the most effective in the country and began producing a new product – rolled oats.

In this new technique, steel-cut groats were rolled into flakes to form quick cooking oats similar to the most popular cook-up oat cereal of today.

Because most Americans did not eat oats at that time, the Quaker Oats Company decided to launch a major advertising campaign.

The company packed its rolled oats in cardboard boxes bearing the reassuring image of an elderly Quaker and promoted their new product via a national advertising campaign in 1882. It was immediate success upon its introduction in to market.  

History of rolled oats