Alexander Pierce Anderson (November 23, 1862 – May 7, 1943) was an American plant physiologist, botanist, educator and inventor. His scientific experiments led to the discovery of process to make " puffed rice" in USA, introducing a new breakfast cereal in the USA, that was later advertised as "Food Shot From Guns".

Biography

Early life and education

Anderson was born in Featherstone Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota. His parents John Anderson and Britta Maria (Gustafsdotter) Anderson were

Swedish-American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

immigrants. He grew up in Spring Creek Valley, ten miles from

Red Wing, Minnesota Red Wing is a city in and the county seat of Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, along the upper Mississippi River. The population was 16,547 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropo ...

. He seemed destined to follow his father into farming but changed course at twenty-seven, entering the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1890 to study agriculture. As a college senior in 1894, Anderson invented a "self-registering balance" that was bought by Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. Encouraged by his instructors, Anderson earned a master's degree in

plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Plant physiologists study fundamental processes of plants, such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tr ...

in 1897. He then traveled to

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Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, in June 1895 to study with leading botanists, earning a doctorate at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

in plant physiology. A loan from his cousin, future Minnesota Governor John Lind helped fund the trip.

Puffed rice

After completing his studies, Anderson accepted a position at Clemson Agricultural College and taught in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

from 1896 to 1899. In 1901 he became the curator of the Herbarium at Columbia University, which allowed him to do research at the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. He believed that a tiny speck of free water would be found in the nucleus of a starch crystal. To prove this, he tried an experiment in December 1901. He heated starch granules that were sealed in a glass tube until they showed signs of browning. Anderson theorized the water inside each grain would turn to steam. He suspected that a reaction within the starch would occur if he broke the tube and set the steam free. The scientist smashed the glass and the resulting explosion produced a stick of pure puffed starch. Anderson's new breakfast food would make him a nationally known figure and the face of a

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

advertising campaign for almost a decade. Anderson traveled to Minneapolis for a meeting set up by John Lind and William C. Edgar (1856-1932), editor of ''Northwestern Miller'' magazine. Anderson knew he needed investors if he was to turn his puffing process into a usable product. A group of twenty wealthy businessman offered support. They gave him a laboratory at Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company to experiment with his ideas. Anderson took a four-by-thirty-six-inch gas pipe and sealed it with pipe heads on each end, one removable. He placed raw rice inside and rotated the cylinder while heating it. When a gauge showed what he felt was enough pressure, Anderson used a sledgehammer to knock loose the removable head. A shower of puffed rice burst from the device. The Minneapolis backers, though interested, sold their shares of the process to Quaker Oats Company. Quaker gave Anderson a Chicago laboratory but took little interest in his discoveries. Anderson finally captured attention at the 1904

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mill ...

. He brought eight bronze, twenty-inch-long cylinders that appeared to many onlookers to be small cannons. Anderson loaded each "cannon" with six pounds of raw rice and applied heat. When he uncapped them, a blizzard of expanded rice showered into a two-story-high, forty-foot-wide cage. Helpers bagged the rice and sold it for a nickel to delighted onlookers. By fair's end, Anderson's team had puffed more than 20,000 pounds of rice and sold a quarter-million packages. He obtained patents on the process and started the Anderson Puffed Rice Company in 1905. American Cereal, a subsidiary the Quaker Oats Company, sold his new product as a breakfast cereal called Puffed Rice. Two years later Quaker Oats took over production. Anderson partnered with Quaker Oats and developed puffed rice and wheat products, including the cereal Quaker Crackels. Quaker Oats advertised puffed cereal as "Prof. Anderson's Gift". Quaker added Puffed Wheat to their line, proclaiming the ready-to-eat cereal as "The Eighth Wonder of the World". Later, the puffed grain would be nicknamed "Food Shot From Guns".

Later years

Anderson married Lydia McDougall Johnson (1876-1934) on August 11, 1898. Alexander and Lydia Anderson moved to the Red Wing area in 1915. Anderson built a laboratory on thei
Tower View Farm
The Andersons raised four children while he conducted research. They also bought more land in the area; supported charities, notably the Vasa Children's Home; and endowed student scholarships. Anderson Puffed Rice Company remained in business until 1941. Over his career, Anderson conducted more than 15,000 experiments perfecting cereals and earned 25 United States patents and foreign patents. In 1943, Anderson died at the age of eighty. One of the Anderson's children, John Pierce Anderson, was married to Eugenie (Anderson) Moore who was appointed by President

Harry S Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th Vice president of the United States, vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Frank ...

as Ambassador to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, the first woman appointed chief of mission at the ambassador level in American history.

Anderson Center at Tower View

The former Tower View Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1977. The property is now the location of the Anderson Center, site of a 700 residency program for artists, writers, and scholars. The A. P. Anderson award is presented annually by the Anderson Center to recognize significant contributions to the cultural and artistic life of Minnesota.

References

Other sources

*Anderson autobiography, "Food Shot from Guns", 2-4, prepared for Quaker Oats Co., in "Testimony of Dr. Alexander P. Anderson in Jersey Cereal Co. v. Quaker Oats Co.," Oct. 30, 1937, found in Alexander P. Anderson Papers, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. *Johnson, Frederick L. "Interview Notes," Lydia Hedin and Jean Chesley, July 21, 2001.

External links

Alexander P. Anderson Records (The New York Botanical Garden)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Alexander P 1862 births 1943 deaths American inventors Clemson University faculty Biologists from South Carolina American people of Swedish descent People from Goodhue County, Minnesota American plant physiologists Quaker Oats Company people University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences alumni