(DailyDig.com) – The legendary Pop-Tart inventor, William “Bill” Post, died in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 10. He lived to be 96.
Born to Dutch immigrants, the Pop-Tart creator got his start as a high school student cleaning trucks for the Hekman Biscuit Co. (now Keebler Co.) in Michigan. After WWII, when he deployed with the Army Air Corps, Post came back to the corporation and climbed the corporate ladder.
Post worked his way up in sales and manufacturing, and he was named personnel manager by the time he was 21. William E. LaMothe, chairman of Kellogg’s, asked him to develop an innovative breakfast item.
The executives came up with a concept for a toaster pie that resembled a bread slice with fork marks along the outside and two squares of pastry with filling.
According to Kellanova, the parent company of Pop-Tarts, Post said that his employer laughed at the concept, but Post loved it, so he developed it into a product.
According to his obituary, Post is often thought to have created the Pop Tart about this time. But Post would be correct in saying that he put together a fantastic team that turned Kellogg’s idea for a pastry that stays fresh for a long time into a high-quality product that they were able to launch onto the market in only four months.
In 1964, four original Pop-Tart flavors of brown sugar cinnamon, strawberry, apple-currant, and blueberry were introduced to the public. Afterward, Post also thought it required icing. In 1967, Post introduced frosted Pop-Tarts.
Nearly three billion toaster pastries were sold in 2022, proving that the pastry’s popularity has not faded even after 60 years.
After relocating to Illinois in 1967, Post started working for Keebler at their corporate headquarters. At Kellogg’s request, he remained on as a consultant for the subsequent two decades after retiring as a senior VP at the age of 56.
Two children, as well as several grand- and great-grandchildren, remain to mourn Post’s death. Florence, his wife, died in 2020.
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