Since the earliest days of the United States, Americans began their days by eating whatever was most easily available. These foods often included bread, eggs or leftovers food left over from the night before. Today, ease is still an important factor when it comes to breakfast. However, what people eat has changed over time. And some of today’s common breakfast foods, such as cereal, are the result of very effective marketing. “Advertising was practically invented to sell cereal,” says Heather Arndt Anderson. She is the writer of the book Breakfast: A History. Arndt Anderson adds, “One of the first ways advertising was successfully or effectively used was to convince mothers that it was okay for their children to eat these instant cereals. It sort of offered working mothers a chance to let kids take care of themselves in the morning.” As women entered the workforce to help support their families, cereal was a food kids could make on their own.