Civil War veteran Horace Melcher ran the H.S. Melcher Company, a wholesale produce business that operated on Fore Street in Portland. In the 1920s, the company advertised it was the exclusive distributor for the Water Lily brand, whose line included canned corn and vegetables, raisins, grape juice, and peanut butter.

Oat flakes are a complex carbohydrate grain, and a source of various vitamins, iron, protein, and fiber.