DETAILS
The year was 1877 and America's kitchens would be forever changed when miller Henry Seymour registered Quaker Oats as the first trademark for a breakfast cereal. The trademark was "a figure of a man in Quaker garb," symbolizing purity. Quaker Oats Company this year celebrates the 125th anniversary of the nation's leading hot breakfast cereal. Versatile oatmeal, now used for nearly every type of entrée, continues to prove to have more health benefits than any other consumer food product - from improving heart health by lowering cholesterol to maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, helpful for people with diabetes.

A series of events to be held throughout 2002 honoring the familiar Quaker Oats icon will begin Jan. 12 at the sixth annual Lafayette Oatmeal Festival in Lafayette, Colo. The family-oriented event, honoring National Oatmeal Month, will include an oatmeal pancake breakfast, a 5K walk/fitness run, a baking contest (with oatmeal a required ingredient, of course). Another Oatmeal milestone: 2002 marks the 400th anniversary that oats were first introduced into America when a sea captain brought the grain to the new world. ***Oatmeal Breakfast: more than 110 gallons or oatmeal will be prepared for breakfast, in addition to 2,000 oatmeal pancakes and 1,200 oatmeal muffins.

Quaker Oatmeal's Many Firsts 
- 1882: featured in the first national magazine advertising program for breakfast cereal.
- 1891: the first brand to feature a recipe on its package (for oatmeal bread).
- 1891: the first cereal to offer a packaged premium (chinaware) in its package.
- 1915: the first cereal to offer a premium on its package (a cereal cooker).
- 1922: among the first convenience products with Quaker Quick Oats.
- 1970: first flavored instant oatmeal introduced.

THE QUAKER MAN TRADEMARK
The Quaker man trademark has been updated only three times since 1877. The original image was a full-length picture of a dour Quaker man holding a scroll with the word "Pure" on it. In 1946, graphic designer Jim Nash developed a new Quaker identity by introducing a black-and-white version of the now-familiar smiling head portrait. In 1957, Chicago artist and 
illustrator Haddon Sundblom updated Nash's line drawing to a full-color portrait of the Quaker man, and in 1972, John Mills painted the image that appears on packages today. 

NEWSFEED INCLUDES:
- Video highlights from the annual Oatmeal festival -- including special anniversary OATMEAL breakfast and baking contest; Product shots; Shots of World’s Largest Oatmeal Topping Bar and the World’s Largest Oatmeal Breakfast.
- Soundbites: Quaker Oats representative; guests at Oatmeal Festival.