This Product Has Been Around Since Before the US Was Founded

It is never known what products are going to outlast others or which ones will even make it to market. According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, nearly 30,000 new products are introduced each year, and 95% of them fail. This makes it even more impressive to see certain products, especially those around since before the country was founded, are still here and doing well.

A company's longevity can often be attributed to several factors, whether they have adhered to the ideas of a visionary founder or have responded to market demands, they have adapted their brand. Some longstanding products have become part of conglomerates and, although they still maintain their brand identity, have become one of many products under a giant corporate umbrella, which is part of how they've managed to last.

To determine the American products that have stood the test of time, 24/7 Tempo derived information from History and other historical websites, company websites, state and city history sources, and various media outlets. Some material was updated from previous 24/7 lists. Highly recognizable names like Kraft and Campbell's secured a spot on this list, as did popular American soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, as well as one historic beer brand. (These are America's 30 oldest beers.)

• Year introduced: 1935

The Chevy Suburban has the distinction of being the longest-running automotive nameplate in production. It rolled off the assembly line as the first steel-bodied, eight-passenger truck-based wagon, and it's been in continuous production since – even during World War II when it was adapted for use as a military vehicle. When the suburbs grew in the post-war years, the rugged and reliable Suburban remained the go-to family vehicle.

• Year introduced: 1919

Roy Allen, whose last name eventually contributed the "A" to this famed root beer's name, was not in the soft drink business. He bought and sold renovated hotels but while working on a deal in Tucson, Arizona, a pharmacist gave him a taste of a new drink. He loved it, bought the rights to the recipe, and opened a root beer stand in Lodi, California, where he handed out the beverage during a parade for returning World War I veterans.

• Year introduced: 1917

Originally established as the Baltimore Chewing Gum Co. in 1895, Goetze's Candy Co., owned by the Goetze family, created a soft caramel candy called Chuees, which evolved into their beloved Caramel Creams – also known as Bull's Eyes.

• Year introduced: 1914

The American Pop Corn Company is the oldest commercial popcorn maker in America. Based in Sioux City, Iowa, the company is known for its flagship product, Jolly Time popcorn, and the company has been owned by the Smith family for more than 100 years.

• Year introduced: 1909

Originally founded in Chicago by J.L. Kraft, a Canadian immigrant, who together with his brothers grew the business by buying cheese in bulk from wholesalers and delivering it to grocers already packaged in tin foil and glass jars, saving the grocers money. Kraft expanded quickly and by 1912 had a line of 31 varieties of cheese, and has grown into a massive snack food and grocery company under various corporate umbrellas.

• Year introduced: 1906

Kellogg's brought to market cereals such as Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, and Cocoa Krispies, made famous by the slogan "The best to you each morning." But the Battle Creek, Michigan, company is best known for its emblematic Corn Flakes. It was founded, in fact, as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co. by Will Keith Kellogg.

• Year introduced: 1905

Anchor Hocking Co. glassware products have been manufactured for more than a century. The company was founded by Isaac Jacob Collins in Lancaster, Ohio, and is named after the Hocking River.

• Year introduced: 1904

Moore Push Pin Co., located in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, is a company that makes push pins, map tacks, and wall tacks.

• Year introduced: 1903

Stormy Kromer wool hats for men and women were, according to company history, the hat was created for George "Stormy" Kromer, a railroad engineer who kept losing his hat on the train. He asked his wife to sew an ear band on his cap to keep his ears warm and the hat secure. The factory is located in Ironwood, Michigan.

• Year introduced: 1902

Warther Cutlery has been handcrafted in Dover, Ohio, since it was founded by Ernest "Mooney" Warther, who, while whittling became frustrated by store-bought knives that became dull -so he started making his own.

• Year introduced: 1901

Quaker Oats Co., whose packaging shows a stalwart Quaker, was founded after the merger of four oat mills in Ohio and Iowa. The company eventually expanded into breakfast cereals and food and drink products.

• Year introduced: 1901

Idaho Candy Co. was founded in Boise, Idaho, by itinerant candy maker T.O. Smith. The company makes 50 different candy bars in a factory that was built in 1909.

• Year introduced: 1900s

Murphy Oil Soap, a staple in many a pantry, is best known as a wood cleaner. The company has been in Cleveland, Ohio, since the early 1900s, and is now owned by Colgate-Palmolive.

• Year introduced: 1899

Founded in Rochester, New York, Hickey Freeman because, according to the company's website, founders Jacob Freeman and Jeremiah Hickey wanted to "bring high-quality hand-tailoring to men from coast to coast." The apparel company has been making suits and other menswear for more than 120 years.

• Year introduced: 1898

The soft drink we know as Pepsi-Cola, now a product of PepsiCo, based in Harrison, New York, traces its roots to New Bern, North Carolina when entrepreneurially minded pharmacist Caleb Bradham developed the cola he originally called Brad's Drink.

• Year introduced: 1898

Snack maker Nabisco, headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, was founded when the New York Biscuit Co. and the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Co. combined more than 100 bakeries to create the National Biscuit Co. – a name later trimmed down to Nabisco. Among the company's many familiar products are Ritz Crackers, Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Teddy Grahams, Chips Ahoy!, and Lorna Doone.

• Year introduced: 1898

Gimbal's has been making candy in San Francisco since Alexander Gimbal, the son of a Forty-Niner in the California Gold Rush, founded the company. It became particularly well-known for jelly beans, and the company was acquired by a rival, Jelly Belly, in 2019.

• Year introduced: 1898

The company was founded in Brooklyn by German immigrant William Entenmann as a standalone bakery. He delivered products door to door to their customers, which included the Morgan and Vanderbilt families. The company expanded into grocery stores and opened bakeries in New Jersey and Connecticut and today has become an iconic brand of cookies and various kinds of pastry.

• Year introduced: 1898

Created by Edward Charles Edmond Barq in Biloxi, Mississippi who owned and operated a bottling company in New Orleans with his brother, Gaston. They bottled carbonated water, created their own sodas, and added root beer to the list. Barq's is now owned by the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.

• Year introduced: circa 1898

Five generations have owned the Palmer Candy Co., which began as a wholesale grocery and fruit company. In the late 1800s, the Palmers diversified and started making bulk and hard candy, hand-dipped boxed chocolates, gumdrops, and marshmallows, moving into a new four-story building in Sioux City, Iowa.

• Year introduced: 1896

Founded by Lithuanian immigrant William Libman, Libman Co. is known for its mops and cleaning tools. The Arcola, Illinois-based company is still family-owned and has been producing traditional corn brooms – made with the tassels of sorghum (also called broomcorn) instead of straw.

• Year introduced: 1896

Lodge Cast Iron, based in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, is one of the oldest makers of cookware in America. The company operates two foundries in South Pittsburg, producing cast-iron pans and pots that are acclaimed in kitchens all over America.

• Year introduced: 1895

Founded by Dr. George F. Smith in a small drugstore in Woodsboro, Maryland, its original products included Rosebud Salve (which Smith originally formulated in 1892), Tholene Mentholated Salve, and Rosebud and Vivian perfumes. According to the Rosebud website, "Dermatologists and druggists report that diaper rash, hemorrhoids, psoriasis, alopecia, and dry scalp are eased by the application of Rosebud Salve."

• Year introduced: 1895

America's most famous soup maker was started in New Jersey by Joseph A. Campbell, a fruit merchant from Bridgeton, and Abraham Anderson, a commercial canner from Camden. The two got their start by producing canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats.

The company's signature tomato soup was born as beefsteak tomato soup, made from the state's famous beefsteak tomatoes, with the condensed version following two years later.

• Year introduced: 1891

20 Mule Team Borax, a brand of natural laundry booster, earned its name from the idea of hitching two teams of 10 mules each together to haul borax out of mines in Death Valley to the railroad. The company is known for sponsoring the radio and television program "Death Valley Days."

• Year introduced: 1890

First brewed by German immigrants, Narragansett beer, brewed in Providence, Rhode Island, became a New England favorite. The company built refrigerated railroad cars to send beer to markets around New England and the mid-Atlantic states. During Prohibition, Narragansett made a line of sodas.

• Year introduced: 1889

Case & Sons Cutlery Co. was founded by four brothers who sold handcrafted knives in upstate New York in the late 19th century. Today, the knives are made in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and Case is now owned by the Zippo Manufacturing Co.

• Year introduced: 1888

1888 Mills has made towels in Griffin, Georgia since the beginning. The cotton might be sourced in other countries but it is woven in the United States.

• Year introduced: 1886

The Coca-Cola Co. got its start when its namesake beverage was invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta. Its formula and brand were then bought in 1889 by Asa Griggs Candler, who incorporated the Coca-Cola Co. three years later. Among its early stockholders was baseball star Ty Cobb, who made millions on his investment.

• Year introduced: 1885

Dr Pepper is the oldest major soft drink brand in America (the smaller Hires Root Beer is older; see below). The beverage was invented by pharmacist Charles Alderton and sold at a drugstore in Waco, Texas. The company's website reports that the drink was supposedly named after Dr. Charles Pepper, a friend of the drugstore owner.

• Year introduced: 1883

German immigrant Oscar Mayer, who came to the U.S. at age 14, founded his namesake company in Chicago. He and his brother began selling bratwurst, liverwurst, pork, and other meat products – possibly including hot dogs, then called wieners – that were popular in the city's German neighborhoods.

• Year introduced: 1880

Vernor's is the oldest surviving ginger ale brand in the United States and one of the oldest sodas overall. According to legend, the drink was accidentally invented by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist, who went to fight in the Civil War, and, according to legend, when he returned home, he realized he had left a concoction in an oak barrel for four years. It turned out its flavor had improved.

Some say that he began selling the ginger ale in 1865 or '66, and indeed the company celebrated its supposed 150th anniversary in 2016 – but when Vernor himself applied for a trademark (in 1911!), he reported that he'd started selling his soft drink in 1880.

• Year introduced: 1880

Hardwick Clothing was founded by C.L. Hardwick and four business partners and is the oldest American-made tailored clothing manufacturer. It claims to have introduced the sport coat into the American clothing lexicon. The company makes suits for men and women in Cleveland, Tennessee.

• Year introduced: 1876

Heinz, the name synonymous with ketchup, picnics, and summer dining, also makes sauces and pickles, among many other food products. Although its slogan has long been "57 Varieties," that number is fictitious and has no bearing on the product line. Founded in 1869 in Pittsburgh by H.J. Heinz, its first product was horseradish, and its famously slow-pouring ketchup – now its flagship product – was introduced seven years later and it continues to dominate the market. It is now part of the KraftHeinz company.

• Year introduced: 1875

Hires Root Beer claims to be the longest-continuously made soft drink in the United States. Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires began selling his version of a root beer in 1876, which was first sold as a powder, and in 1884, Hires began making a liquid extract and syrup to be used in soda fountains.

By 1892, Hires was selling three million bottles of root beer a year. The brand is now owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG).

• Year introduced: 1871

Homer Laughlin China Co. was started by brothers Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin, and the company was honored at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia where it was awarded for having the best white-ware on display. Today, the company is the oldest china manufacturer in the United States, making its products in Newell, West Virginia.

• Year introduced: 1867

Arm & Hammer touts itself as "a trusted solution," and its baking soda products have been owned by the same company, Church & Dwight, since its founding. Its signature hammer logo symbolizes Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

• Year introduced: 1865

Tabasco sauce was developed by banker Edmund McIlhenny after the Civil War destroyed his financial business. He began growing tabasco peppers (named for the Mexican state of Tabasco) on Avery Island, near the eastern salt marshes of Louisiana. He crushed the peppers, mixed in island salt, added French white vinegar, and let the mixture age for 60 days.

• Year introduced: 1860

The company was founded in Brooklyn more than 160 years ago and originally sold padlocks to railroad companies. Wilson Bohannan moved to Marion, Ohio, in 1926, where it continues to operate today.

• Year introduced: 1859

Although it often seems as though bottled water is a rather newer product, Poland Spring, the water that comes to mind for most people, has been around for quite some time. The Ricker family, who ran the Wentworth Ricker Inn that opened in 1797 in Poland, Maine, began promoting the local water as a cure for various diseases in the 1840s.

The Rickers soon began bottling the water, and within a year or so, Poland Spring was being sold all over the U.S.

• Year introduced: 1853

The Keebler Co. got its start when Godfrey Keebler opened a bakery in Philadelphia. By 1927, this bakery and others formed the United Biscuit Company of America. In 1936 the company became the official baker of Girl Scout Cookies, and a division is still licensed to make them (under the brand Little Brownie Bakers – another company also produces them, under the brand ABC Bakers).

Among its "uncommonly good" products are E.L. Fudge Cookies, Vienna Fingers, Cheez-Its, and Town House Crackers. The famous Keebler Elves were created by an ad agency in 1968.

• Year introduced: 1847

In 1843, G. & C. Merriam Co. purchased the rights to Noah Webster's 1841 edition of "An American Dictionary of the English Language, Corrected and Enlarged." In 1847, Merriam published its first Merriam-Webster dictionary. Though one of the country's oldest brands, Merriam-Webster makes significant efforts to keep track of the latest linguistic trends.

• Year introduced: 1847

Annin Flagmakers is the oldest flag maker in the United States and is considered the nation's premier maker of "Old Glory." Flag sales tend to track surges of patriotic fervor in the U.S., such as toward the end of the Civil War and the two world wars, and during the Bicentennial in 1976. Besides its New Jersey headquarters, Annin has factories in Virginia and Ohio.

• Year introduced: 1839

Brinly-Hardy was founded by John Brinly, a blacksmith from Kentucky. Besides shoeing horses and mules for settlers on the frontier, Brinly made plows and is credited with making the first steel plow in the region. From those beginnings, the company eventually moved into lawn and garden tractor accessories, making its products in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

• Year introduced: 1837

Tiffany & Co., originally founded as a "stationery and fancy goods emporium," has been a leader in the industry for over 150 years. The company's importance can be seen in the impact it has had on the silverware and jewelry business. Tiffany & Co. has used the same 925/1000 standard for silver purity since it began, a standard later adopted by the United States government for sterling silver.

At the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle, Tiffany was the first American company to win an award for its silverware. In 1871, the company introduced a flatware pattern, called Audobon, which to date remains the company's best-selling flatware. Today, Tiffany sells silver bracelets, necklaces, piggy banks, and silverware among many other items, and they are famous for their iconic blue box, a color known as Tiffany Blue that was trademarked in 1988.

• Year introduced: 1819

Jacob Bromwell was founded as a manufacturer of brushes, luxury flasks, kitchenware, and housewares in Cincinnati. Today, the company, whose logo is the founder's signature, is located in Michigan City, Indiana, and claims to be the oldest housewares company in the U.S., and the oldest-known manufacturer of tin, stainless steel, and copper products in North America.

• Year introduced: 1818

Brooks Brothers, which helped define the American style in suits, was founded by Henry Sands Brooks. Its first store opened in New York City, and it claims to be the oldest continuously operating apparel brand in America. Originally specializing in tailor-made clothing, the company made the first ready-to-wear suits in 1849, and it has sold them ever since. They are responsible for dressing 39 presidents and industry leaders.

In 2020, in the face of the pandemic, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed 51 stores, but today, under the ownership of the Authentic Brands Group, it still has about 170 stores in North America plus hundreds more in other countries.

• Year introduced: 1818

Libbey Glass Co. was originally founded by William Libbey as the New England Glass Company. In 1888 the founder's son, Edward, moved the company to Toledo, Ohio, which became known as "Glass City" and changed the name to Libbey Glass Co. in 1892.

• Year introduced: 1790

King Arthur Baking Co., known for its flours and baking mixes, was founded in Boston, Massachusetts by Henry Wood. Today, King Arthur is employee-owned and has a bake shop and baking school in Norwich, Vermont. The company's motto is "Our mission is to inspire connections and community by spreading the joy of baking."

• Year introduced: 1780

Laird & Co. became the first licensed distillery in America, whose product's origins rest with Alexander Laird, who emigrated to Monmouth County in New Jersey from Scotland at the end of the 17th century. He began distilling a kind of apple brandy called applejack – also known as "Jersey Lightning." Its fame was such that George Washington requested its recipe, and Laird provided the colonial troops with the beverage.

• Year introduced: 1780

Baker's Chocolate began in the 1760s by Dr. John Baker and John Hannon. It has been produced consistently since 1780 when Dr. John Baker purchased the outstanding shares in his own company from his partner's widow. One representative of Kraft Foods, present owners of the brand, told 24/7 Tempo that "not much has changed, except the packaging."

Yet even the packaging has remained remarkably consistent over time. La Belle Chocolatière, the female figure seen on packages of Baker's, has been there for more than 100 years.

• Year introduced: 1770

When you want to make an impression on someone in a letter, people turn to Crane stationery, a manufacturer of fine stationery since it began. Since 1879, Crane & Co., headquartered in Dalton, Massachusetts, has supplied the United States Treasury with its currency paper.

• Year introduced: 1764

Founded before American independence, The Hartford Courant is the country's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. New Haven printer Thomas Green began publishing the Hartford Courant – originally known as the Connecticut Courant – out of the Heart and Crown Tavern in Hartford, Connecticut. It is now run by Digital First Media, part of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

• Year introduced: 1752

Caswell-Massey is one of the few companies that can claim they were founded before the American Revolution. The Newport, Rhode Island, company claims to be the longest-continuously operated apothecary brand. Its cologne Number 6 was a favorite of George Washington. Today, the company offers luxury soaps, fragrances, and hair and body care products for men and women.