William “Bill” Post, who is credited as the inventor of Pop-Tarts, died on Feb. 10 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was 96.
Post, who was the son of Dutch immigrants as per his obituary, was serving as the plant manager of Keebler Co. in the early 1960s when he welcomed some executives from Kellogg’s who discussed the idea of a new product – a shelf-stable toaster pastry – they had in mind.
“It is at this juncture that Bill is often credited for having ‘invented’ the Pop Tart,” Post’s obituary reads.
Pop-Tarts were first invented in 1963 after Kellogg chairman William E. LaMothe had the idea of “transforming a delicious breakfast into a toaster-ready rectangle that could go anywhere,” according to Pop-Tarts. LaMothe pitched the idea to his kitchen crew, who initially developed it as a toast and jam pastry called “Fruit Scone.”
The name wasn’t very appealing so the company “inspiration from the Pop Culture movement of the day and renamed it ‘Pop-Tarts’,” says Pop-Tarts on their website.
