# Who's this guy

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 11, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443 "2003-02-11T22:17:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tia3child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tia3child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tia3child)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443/1 "2003-02-11T22:17:05Z")

</div>

I’m eating cereal as we speak and I started to wonder, who’s the guy on the Quaker Oats emblem. Did or do the Quakers run that company?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443/2 "2003-02-11T22:24:33Z")

</div>

From [this](http://www.adtoymuseum.com/inside/c8/3265018.html) site…

“None of the founders of the company were Quakers, although one of the owners claimed some Quaker descent. The image was chosen to represent purity, simplicity and quality. In 1877, the Quaker Oats Man became the first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443/3 "2003-02-11T22:27:41Z")

</div>

I’ve heard people say it is William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, but I think it is just some every-day, run-of-the-mill Quaker.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443/4 "2003-02-11T22:29:41Z")

</div>

See [this](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mquaker.html) Staff Report on the Penn (non)connection.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-this-guy/154443/5 "2003-02-11T22:30:12Z")

</div>

[http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/FAQ/AH\_index.cfm](http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/FAQ/AH_index.cfm)

> [@](#):
>
> The Quaker Oats Company was officially formed in 1901 when several American grain pioneers came together to incorporate the now familiar name. These pioneers were Ferdinand Schumacher, John Stuart, George Douglas and Henry Parsons Crowell.

Who don’t seem to have been Quakers.

> [@](#):
>
> The “Quaker man” is not an actual person. His image is that of a man dressed in the Quaker garb, chosen because the Quaker faith projected the values of honesty, integrity, purity and strength.