William Post, who helped create Pop-Tarts, dies at 96

William Post, a businessman who was instrumental in inventing Pop-Tarts, a classic American snack and cultural touchstone with an enticing sweetness and simplicity, died on February 10 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was 96.

His death was confirmed by his son, Dan Post, who said his father died of heart failure at a senior living community.

Mr. Post ran the bakery factory that developed the first Pop-Tarts for Kellogg's in 1964, his son said. The snack quickly became a popular treat for many people in the United States, including Mr. Post's children, who were among the first taste testers.

Today, billions of Pop-Tarts are sold annually, according to Kellogg's. They are also depicted on muralsexhibited in museums and parodied by “Saturday evening live.” And later this year they will star in “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story,” a farcical chronicle of the 1960s race to win the breakfast-pastry wars, directed by comedian (and Pop-Tarts aficionado) Jerry Seinfeld.

Over the past 60 years, Pop-Tarts has expanded from four flavors to… more than 30. But they also keep the classic shape that made them an American institution: two thin layers of dry, rectangular dough with a sweet filling and glaze.

William Post was born on June 27, 1927 in Grand Rapids. He was one of seven children of Henry Post and Johanna Jongsta, Dutch immigrants. His father, who was self-employed, drove a truck that he used to empty the ash that people took from their coal furnaces.

He attended Grand Rapids Christian High School while working part-time at the Hekman Biscuit Company laundry trucks. A year after graduating in 1945, he was drafted into the Army Air Corps in occupied Japan.

After completing his military service, he returned to his part-time job, began studying at Calvin College and began a 72-year marriage to Florence Schut, who died in 2020, his son said. Mr. Post left college in 1950 and became a full-time personnel manager at Hekman, which later became part of the Keebler Company.

When Kellogg's approached Mr. Post in 1964, he was managing Hekman's Grand Rapids plant. At the time, Kellogg's competitor, Post, was making a toaster called “Country Squares,” which was later called “Toast 'em Pop Ups.” Executives from Kellogg's, which sold breakfast cereal, asked Mr. Post whether his factory would have the capabilities to make a similar product.

“Being the absolutely positive person that he was,” his son Dan recalled, “he said, 'Absolutely, give me two weeks.'”

There were “a lot of naysayers,” and some of his friends said Pop-Tarts was “not such a good idea,” Mr. Post said. told WWMTa television station serving West Michigan, in 2021. He ignored them and put together a team to create what Kellogg's wanted.

During those two weeks, he offered prototypes to his children at various stages of the product's development, his son said.

“They went from cardboard to a pastry,” he said. “He would bring home samples almost every day and say, 'Kids, try these,'” he added. “We'd say, 'This isn't that great.' After two weeks we said, “Hey, these are pretty good.”

After Mr. Post took the recipe to Kellogg's, the company sold its first shipment in Cleveland.

Kellogg's had originally considered calling Pop-Tarts “fruit scones.” But their final name, coined by one of Kellogg's executives, William LaMothe, was inspired by the pop culture movement of the time: “Pop Art.”

The first Pop-Tarts were not matte. The icing on the cake came a few years later when Mr. Post came up with the idea, according to his son.

“I said to our superintendent, Hey, why don't you take some Pop Tarts and run them under that ice cream machine?” said Mr. Post in a video posted earlier this year by Kellanova, the company name currently used by Kellogg's. He faced skeptics who believed the frosting would melt in the toaster, but it didn't. “The decision to make all four flavors frozen took one day,” he said.

As Pop-Tarts became an increasingly important part of his job, Mr. Post moved to Illinois in 1967 to work at Keebler's corporate headquarters, where he became senior vice president.

He retired at age 56, but continued to work as a consultant for Kellogg's until age 76. He was also involved in his church, serving as a board member for schools, churches and a local YMCA.

In addition to his son, Mr. Post is survived by his daughter, Rachel DeYoung, as well as four grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Kellogg's history of Pop-Tart the website credits Mr. LaMothe, the chairman, with coming up with the idea for a “toaster-ready rectangle” and asking Joe Thompson to create it. No mention is made of Mr Post.

But after Mr. Post's death, the company said in a statement: “He was instrumental in co-creating the iconic Pop-Tarts brand.”

Mr. Post told his Pop-Tarts story to students well into their 80s, his son said. He often talked about being the son of immigrants who barely spoke English, and challenged students to do their best and work hard. He would also bring them samples of his unlimited supply of Pop-Tarts.

Every time he entered a classroom, his son recalled, he told the students, “If you want to be noticed, always do more than is expected.”

Victor Mather contributed reporting.