The Locker | Wheaties

Gehrig’s illustration on the back of a 1934 Wheaties box (Ebay)

Wheaties was born in 1922 after a wheat bran mixture accidentally fell onto a hot stove at the Washburn Crosby company, the forebear of General Mills.  Initially called “Washburn’s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes,” the cereal’s name was soon changed to the more truncated and aesthetic: Wheaties.  In 1934, as part of an effort to forge stronger connections between the sporting world and the “Breakfast of Champions,” athletes began appearing on the back of the box.  The first such athlete was Lou Gehrig.

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