Chronology

1783 Jean Jacob Schweppes improved a process for manufacturing carbonated water and formed the Schweppes       Company in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1792 Schweppes moved the company to England. Soda at that time was considered a medicinal beverage. During the nineteenth century, the Schweppes Company began manufacturing Schweppes Tonic Water.
1825 The Erie Canal was completed, linking the Midwest to the East Coast.This enabled the transportation of wheat and flour from western New York state and later the Midwest. The flood of white flour into New England created America’s first culinary protest movement, led by Sylvester Graham, who believed that low-cost white flour was destroying New England life. His solution was to use only locally grown, unbolted wheat. He created what would be later called Graham flour.
1847 Joseph S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, England combined cocoa powder with sugar and added cocoa butter to produce a thin paste that could be shaped in a mold and be consumed as a solid. This discovery launched a revolution that converted chocolate from being used mainly for hot beverages and for baking to being a component of chocolate candy.
1862 In the United States, the Bureau of Agriculture was established in 1862;in 1889, the Bureau became the Department of Agriculture (USDA) with cabinet rank. The USDA administers thousands of programs related to food and agriculture, including programs on food safety and nutrition.
1866 James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist, introduced Ginger Ale, which is considered America’s first commercial carbonated soft drink.
1867 Charles Feltman, a pushcart vendor on Coney Island, New York, began selling sausages on white rolls. These are considered the first hot dogs.
1869 The transcontinental railroad was completed, connecting California with the East Coast. This and other railroads permitted foods to be shipped throughout the United States. After the invention of the refrigerated railroad car, seafood was easily transported to inland cities hundreds of miles from the ocean, and beef was easily brought from the Midwestern stockyards to cities all over America.
1871 Thomas Adams of New York invented America’s first chewing gum,which he began to manufacture. Others followed in his footsteps.
1876 At the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia, James W. Tufts and Charles Lippincott constructed a building with a 30-foot soda fountain and dozens of soda dispensers ready to refresh thirsty fairgoers. After the Exposition closed, Tufts and Lippincott made a fortune selling soda fountains to drugstores around the nation. By 1908 there were an estimated 75,000 soda fountains in the United States. Hires Root Beer was the first soft drink to be mass-produced for public sale in Philadelphia.
In Switzerland, Henri Nestle, a milk expert, went into business to produce milk chocolate. In 1879, the Nestle Company produced its first chocolate bar.
Augustin Thompson, an itinerant pharmacist in Lowell, Massachusetts, concocted Moxie Nerve Food, which was later converted into Moxie, a soft drink.
1877 The American Cereal Company, headed by Henry D. Seymour and William Heston, developed and trademarked a new product they called Quaker Oats. They packed their product in cardboard boxes bearing the reassuring image of an elderly Quaker and promoted it via an advertising campaign in 1882, making it the first processed food to be advertised nationally.
1885 Charles Alderton, employed at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, invented a beverage called Dr Pepper.
1886 Dr. John S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. Pemberton considered it a cure for headaches and addiction to morphine, he sold it as a medicine in drugstores. The business was sold to Asa Chandler, who began selling the syrup to other druggists and soda fountain operators who, in turn, mixed it with soda. Today, Coca-Cola is sold in more than 200 countries and territories.
1890 Chemist Wilbur O. Atwater analyzed the nutritional components of food (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) and measured the caloric value of each.
1892 William Painter’s invention of the crown bottle cap made it possible to seal bottles easily and cheaply. The bottling of soft drinks was greatly enhanced by improved glass bottles that could keep the carbon dioxide in and would not shatter during the manufacturing process.
1893 At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Milton S. Hershey, a caramel maker in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, bought chocolate-making machinery from a German exhibitor; when he returned home, he launched the Hershey Chocolate Company. In 1898 he sold his caramel company and concentrated on chocolate manufacturing. After years of experiments,in about 1900 he finally produced what he called a Chocolate Bar. The Hershey Company quickly became America’s largest chocolate manufacturer, a title it still holds more than 100 years later.
The Quaker City Confectionery Company of Philadelphia first produced Good & Plenty candy.
William Wrigley, Jr. began manufacturing Juicy Fruit and Wrigley’s Spearmint gums in Chicago. Today, the company is the world’s largest maker of chewing and bubble gum.
1895 Charles W. Post, a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, offered to go into business with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (who ran the sanitarium) to market the sanitarium’s products, but Kellogg declined. Post later established the Postum Cereal Company (later renamed General Foods Corporation) and began producing Grape Nuts, the first commercial cold cereal. His success encouraged dozens of other companies to begin manufacturing cereal in Battle Creek.
1896 Frederick and Louis Rueckheim of Chicago launched Cracker Jack, America’s first junk food. By 1916 it was the best-selling confection in the world.
William A. Breyer, who had sold ice cream on a retail basis since 1866, began wholesaling it in Philadelphia. Breyers Ice Cream Company became one of America’s largest manufacturers of ice cream.
1897 Cadbury Brothers began manufacturing milk chocolate. In 1919, Cadbury merged with Joseph S. Fry & Sons, another major English chocolate maker. The company continued to grow globally throughout the twentieth century. In 1969 Cadbury and Schweppes merged to form Cadbury Schweppes.
1898 The National Biscuit Company (NBC), the forerunner ofNabisco, was created and the company launched a new product called Uneeda Biscuits. Uneeda Biscuits was the first cracker advertised nationally in America. In the same year, NBC began manufacturing Graham Crackers, although the crackers contain ingredients (such as sugar and preservatives) that Sylvester Graham would have strongly opposed.
William Entenmann opened his first bakery in Brooklyn, New York. His business flourished and, in the 1950s, the company began to expand throughout the East Coast, selling its goods through grocery stores as well as through its bakeries. Today, Entenmann’s is one of America’s largest pastry makers and is the nation’s second-largest doughnut maker.
Pepsi-Cola was invented by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina, although the formula would be revised over the years.
1900 Frank Woodward, owner of the Genesee Pure Food Company in LeRoy,New York, bought the formula for flavored gelatin. He marketed it under the name Jell-O.
1904 Canadian John J. McLaughlin perfected a recipe for Pale Dry Ginger Ale. The label for the bottle included a map of Canada with a beaver, which is the national symbol of Canada.
1905 Tootsie Rolls were manufactured in New York City by Leo Hershfield, who brought his recipe from Austria. Named after his daughter, Tootsie, it was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped.Chero-Cola, later reformulated and released as Royal Crown Cola, was created in Columbus, Georgia.
1906 Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act.Dr. John Harvey Kellogg established the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company, later renamed Kellogg’s. He named his younger brother, Will K. Kellogg, president of the new company.
1908 Milton S. Hershey introduced almonds into the Hershey Company’s chocolate bar; the bar had been introduced in 1900 but he continued to revise the formula until 1905.
1912 Nabisco introduced Oreo Biscuits to compete with the Hydrox Biscuit Bonbons rolled out in 1908 by the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company of Kansas City, Missouri. Oreos became America’s best-selling cookie.
1912 The Stephen F. Whitman Company, founded in Philadelphia in 1842, created the Whitman Sampler which consisted of chocolate-coated candies, complete with an identifying chart inside the lid.
1916 Nathan Handwerker, a Polish shoemaker, opened a hot dog stand on Coney Island, New York. His business thrived and later became Nathan’s Famous, Inc.
1919 Taggart Bakery introduced chocolate cupcakes, minus the vanilla filling and the icing fillip. The company was renamed Hostess Cup Cakes in 1925. These were the first national pastry.
Roy Allen launched a root beer stand in June of1919, in Lodi, California; three years later Allen took on a partner, Frank Wright. They combined their initials and formally named the beverage A&W Root Beer.
Peter Paul Halajian and associates founded the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company in New Haven, Connecticut. They later created two famous chocolate bars, Mounds in 1920 and Almond Joy in1946.
1921 A White Castle hamburger stand opened in Wichita, Kansas. It was the beginning of America’s first fast food chain.
The Eskimo Pie, first named I-Scream, was invented by Christian Kent Nelson, of Onawa, Iowa.
1922 Mars, Inc., formed. It released the Milky Way chocolate bar (1923), followed by Snickers (1930) and 3 Musketeers (1932).
1923 Frank Epperson invented Epsicles—ice pops on wooden sticks. He later changed the product name to Popsicle.
1924 A&W Root Beer in Sacramento, California, and the Pig Stand in Dallas, Texas, became the first-known food franchises.
The Washburn Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills, Inc.) acquired the Wheaties cereal brand and began advertising it as The Breakfast of Champions.
1927 PEZ was introduced in Austria as a peppermint breath mint for smokers; in 1948 its unique plastic dispensers were introduced into the United States.
Kool-Aid was introduced in a powdered form in Hastings, Nebraska. Chemist Edwin Perkins was inspired by Jell-O to make a concentrate product, which could be easily manufactured, distributed, and converted into a beverage.
Southland Ice Company opened a convenience store in Dallas, Texas, which was later called 7-Eleven. Today, 7-Eleven is the world’s largest convenience store chain, with more than 29,000 stores worldwide (11,000 of which are in Japan).
1928 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were invented by Harry Burnett Reese, a former employee of the Hershey Chocolate Company, who founded the H. B. Reese Candy Company. They were sold in five-pound boxes for use in candy assortments. Ten years later, Reese marketed these cups separately for a penny apiece. They remain one of America’s most popular candy bars.
Bubble gum was invented by Walter E. Diemer, who experimented with different ways of making chewing gum until he found one that stretched more easily and was less sticky.
1929 7-Up was invented by Charles Leiper Grigg of St. Louis, Missouri. Within 10 years, 7-Up was the third-best-selling soft drink in the world.
The General Foods Corporation was created when the Postum Company, the maker of Post cereals, went on a buying spree, acquiring such brands as Baker’s chocolate, Maxwell House coffee, and Jell-O. It later acquired Kool-Aid and introduced Tang, an orange-flavored beverage powder.
1930 Jimmy Dewar, manager of a Continental Baking Company bakery in Chicago, invented a banana creme-filled cake that could be sold year-round at the price of two for a nickel. He named it Twinkies. During World War II the banana filling was replaced with a vanilla creme filling.
Mars, Inc., released the Snickers chocolate bar. It quickly became America’s most-consumed candy bar, a position it has held ever since.
1932 Elmer Doolin, an unemployed salesman, began manufacturing Fritos (corn chips) in his kitchen. He was successful in selling them and he quickly opened a factory in San Antonio, Texas, to increase production. Fritos were the first commercially produced corn chips.
1934 The National Biscuit Company (later renamed Nabisco) test-marketed Ritz Crackers. They were so successful that the company released them nationally the following year.
Thomas Carvel, a salesman who sold ice cream at fairs and beach resorts, opened a retail ice cream shop in Hartsdale, New York. Carvel Corporation franchisee! its operation after World War II and became a major East Coast ice cream chain.
1937 Vernon Rudolph launched Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Margaret Rudkin of Fairfield, Connecticut began a small business baking preservative-free, whole-wheat bread. She named her business Pepperidge Farm.
1938 Herman W. Lay introduced Lay’s potato chips; they became the best-selling potato chip in America.
1940 Sherb Noble, an ice cream store owner, acquired a Dairy Queen franchise and opened his first outlet in Joliet, Illinois. The soft-serve ice cream had been perfected by Alex McCullough and F. J. McCullough, owners of the Homemade Ice Cream Company in Green River, Illinois.
M&M’s candy was introduced by Forrest Mars, the son of the founder of Mars, Inc., who had established a chocolate manufacturing company with Bruce Murrie, the son of the president of the Hershey Company. Because both of their last names started with M, they called their new company M&M. They named their first product after their company, which later merged with Mars, Inc.
1941-1945 During World War II, confectioners lobbied for candy to be declared “good for the troops,” and M&M’s became part of military rations, as were Tootsie Rolls, Wrigley’s chewing gum, and Hershey bars.
1946 Irvine Robbins and his brother-in-law, Burt Baskin, formed a partner-ship to create Baskin-Robbins, which sold premium ice cream. As of 2005, there were about 2,500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States and a similar number in 50 other countries.
1948 Richard and Maurice McDonald created a radical new fast food operation in San Bernardino, California. The brothers created an efficient assembly line to make hamburgers and French fries, and it provided customers with fast, reliable, and inexpensive food. The brothers began franchising their operation in 1953. The following year, the McDonalds signed an agreement with Ray Kroc to franchise their operation nationally.
Harry and Esther Snyder launched their first In-N-Out Burger operation in Baldwin Park, California.
Verne H. Winchell founded Winchell’s Donut House in Temple City, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. As of 2005, Winchell’s Donut House had about 200 stores, mainly in Western states.
1950 Bill Rosenberg of Quincy, Massachusetts, changed the name of his doughnut shop to Dunkin’ Donuts. He began franchising his operation in 1955.
Sugar Pops were introduced by the Kellogg Company (cereal makers had determined that children preferred sweet cereals). Other sugaredcereals were soon released, including several by the Kellogg Company, and General Mills introduced Trix in 1954.
Jack in the Box was started by Robert O. Peterson in San Diego. As of 2005, Jack in the Box was the fifth-largest hamburger chain in America and had 1,670 outlets nationwide.
Leo Maranz went into partnership with Harry Axene in Chicago to create Tastee-Freez.
1952 Harlan Sanders, a restaurant owner in Corbin, Kentucky, sold his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.
Hyman Kirsch introduced the first diet soft drinks, No-Cal ginger ale and root beer. Kirschs success was followed by many other diet sodas, including Royal Crown Company’s Diet Rite Cola; the Coca-Cola Company’s Tab, and Diet Coke, Cadbury Schweppes’s Diet 7-Up, and PepsiCo’s Diet Pepsi.
Al Tunick founded Chicken Delight in Illinois. He decided to market his cooking method through small take-out stands and was the first fast food chain to offer home delivery. He began franchising his operation, and it grew quickly.
In 1952 George W. Church, Sr., a retired incubator salesman, conceived and launched Church’s Fried Chicken to Go in downtown San Antonio, Texas. As of 2005, Church’s had 1,334 outlets—100 in Mexico and the rest in the United States, where it is the third-largest chicken franchise chain.
1954 James McLamore and David R. Edgerton Jr., launched their first Insta-Burger-King outlet in Miami, Florida. They later acquired the company and change its name to Burger King. It became the second-largest hamburger fast food chain in the world.
M&M, Inc. introduced Peanut M&M’s, which become the most popular confection in America.
1956 Carl’s Jr. was launched by fast food pioneer Karl Karcher of Anaheim,California. In 2004, CKE Restaurants had more than 3,400 outlets.
Leo Stefanos, a candy store owner, invented the Dove Ice Cream Bar— ice cream dipped in rich chocolate. In 1985, Mars, Inc., acquired the Dove Bar brand and the following year began to market it nationally.
The first Sonic drive-in opened in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Today, there are almost 3,000 Sonic drive-ins across the United States; it is the only national fast food chain to retain carhops as an integral part of its operations.
1958 Frank Carney and his brother Dan opened a pizza parlor in Wichita, Kansas. Six months after the Carneys opened their first restaurant, they opened a second. Within a year there were six Pizza Hut outlets. The brothers began franchising Pizza Hut in 1959. Pizza Hut popularized pizza as a fast food in America.
Tang Breakfast Beverage Crystals was introduced nationally by General Foods Corporation, but did not become popular until the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) popularized it on their Gemini flights in 1965.
1959 The Frito Corn Chip company merged with Lay’s, creating Frito-Lay, Inc., with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The merged company continued to grow; six years later Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi Cola Company, creating PepsiCo.
Mike and Marian Hitch opened a small pizzeria, named Little Caesar’s Pizza Treat, in Garden City, Michigan. The company is now the world’s largest carry-out pizza chain. Little Caesar’s ranks eleventh among restaurant chains in America.
Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro opened an Italian grocery store in Brooklyn, New York, that launched the Sbarro chain of Italian restaurants. As of 2005, Sbarro operated 960 restaurants in the United States and 26 other countries.
1960 Reuben Mattus formed a company to sell a premium ice cream, Haagen-Dazs. The brand was a success, and others imitated Mattus. By 2005, Haagen-Dazs was sold in 54 countries.
McKee Foods launched the Little Debbie pastry line, which started with an Oatmeal Creme Pie. As of 2005, Little Debbie cakes manufactured by McKee Foods were the best-selling cakes in America.
1961 Brothers Tom and James Monaghan purchased a Dominick’s pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1965 Tom renamed the business Domino’s Pizza. By 2006, the company expanded even more and currently has more than 8,000 outlets—5,000 in the United States and 3,000 in 50 other countries.
Ray Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers’ hamburger franchise company and began a massive expansion of McDonald’s operations. By 2006, there were more than 30,000 McDonald’s outlets throughout the world.
John Galardi opened the first Wienerschnitzel hot dog stand in Newport Beach, California. Today it is the largest hot dog chain, with more than 360 outlets in the United States.
1962 Joseph, Ronald, Frances, and Joan Simek, owners of the Tombstone Bar in Medford, Wisconsin, began making small frozen pizzas (Tombstone Pizzas) in a small factory next to their tavern for distribution to local bars and taverns. Rose Totino of Totino’s Italian Kitchen in Minneapolis claims to have also done this in the same year (Totino’s Pizzas).
1963 Jean Nidetch and Albert and Felice Lippert formed Weight Watchers. Other weight-loss programs, such as the Weight Losers Institute, NutriSystem, and Jenny Craig, followed Weight Watcher’s example.
Nabisco released Chips Ahoy!, currently America’s best-selling chocolate chip cookie.
1964 Harland Sanders sold his Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise business to John Y. Brown and Jack Massey for $2 million. There were more than 600 franchises at that time. He became a spokesman and goodwill ambassador for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the Col. Sanders image became synonymous with the company.
Pop-Tarts were introduced by the Kellogg Company. Pop-Tarts have a sugary filling sealed inside two layers of a pastry crust, which are thin enough to fit into toasters. Country Squares, a competitive product introduced by Post Cereals, failed to take off but Pop-Tarts sales were extremely successful. As of 2005, there were 32 flavors of Pop-Tarts.
The brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffel launched the first Arby’s in Boardman, Ohio. It specialized in roast beef. Today, there are more than 3,400 Arby’s restaurants worldwide.
Blimpie (subs and salads) was launched by Tony Conza, Peter DeCarlo, and Angelo Baldassare in Hoboken, New Jersey. As of 2004, there were almost 1,600 Blimpie locations across the United States and in more than 10 other countries.
1965 Frederick DeLuca of Bridgeport, Connecticut opened a sandwich shop in Milford, Connecticut. It would become Subway, which today has become the second-largest fast food franchise in the world with more than 24,000 locations in the United States and 82 other countries.
1966 Doritos, invented by Arch West, were launched by Frito-Lay, Inc. They were America’s first commercial tortilla chip.
1969 Procter & Gamble introduced Pringles Potato Chips made from dehydrated and reconstituted potatoes. Pringles are cut into a uniform size and shape, allowing them to be packaged in a long tube.
Cadbury and Schweppes merged to form Cadbury Schweppes. As of 2005, Cadbury Schweppes was a leading global confectionery company, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of chewing gum, and the world’s third-largest soft drink company.
Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy’s (hamburgers and chicken) outlet in Columbus, Ohio. In 1970, Thomas began expanding his operation in other cities in Ohio. In 1972, the first out-of-state Wendy’s was opened in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wendy’s went from nine outlets in 1972 to 1,818 six years later.
Long John Silver’s Fish ‘n’ Chips was launched by Jerrico, Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky. In 2005, it was the largest fast food fish chain in America.
1971 The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) was formed in Washington, D.C. It is one of America’s most influential consumer advocate organizations.
1972 Al Copeland opened a fast food (chicken and biscuits) restaurant called Popeyes in New Orleans, Louisiana. Popeyes has more than 1,800 restaurants in the United States and 27 international markets.
1975 Wally Amos opened the Amos Chocolate Cookie Company on
Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Today, sales of Famous Amos cookies are reported at about $100 million per year.
El Pollo Loco began as a roadside chicken stand in Guasave on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. In 1980, it opened first outlet in the United States in Los Angeles, California. As of 2005, the company had 330 outlets in Arizona, California, Illinois, Nevada, and Texas.
1977 Plastic soda bottles made with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were invented by Nathan Wyeth, who worked for DuPont Corp. Previously, soda beverages stored in plastic exploded. Wyeth developed a stronger system of molding plastic, enabling DuPont to produce a light, clear, and resilient bottle.
Nolan Bushnell created Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre, the first of which opened in San Jose, California. As of 2005, there were 498 Chuck E. Cheese outlets, which operate in 48 states and 4 countries.
Debbi Fields opened a cookie store in Palo Alto, California. Mrs. Fields Cookies began franchising in 1990; as of 2005, the company has more than 700 locations in 11 countries.
1978 Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream and Crepes in South Burlington, Vermont. In August 2000, Ben & Jerry’s was purchased by the Unilever conglomerate.
1980 7-Eleven, the world’s largest convenience store operation, began selling 32-ounce Big Gulp beverages; at that time it was the biggest beverage cup on the market. In 1988, 7-Eleven introduced the giant 64-ounce Double Gulp. It was the first retailer to introduce self-serve fountain drinks and today it sells almost 33 million gallons of fountain drinks annually worldwide.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was founded and today has a membership of 850,000. PETA members regularly campaign for animal rights and attack fast food chains for their treatment of animals before and during slaughter.
1981 The first Quiznos Sub restaurant was opened in Denver, Colorado. By 2004 the chain had more than 3,000 outlets in the United States and 15 other nations.
1985 Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax opened the first California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) in Beverly Hills, California. CPK created unusual-flavored pizzas, such as its BBQ Chicken, that differed greatly from traditional American pizza.
1992 The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Food Guide Pyramid which recommended a hierarchal—and therefore controversial—dietary pattern based on breads, cereals, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables, and dairy products. It also recommended that consumption of high-fat processed meats be limited and that only two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts be consumed daily.
1993 Max Shondor, a Florida-based natural food restaurateur, introduced soy-based Boca Burgers; he subsequently expanded his line to include other flavors as well as meatless breakfast patties and nuggets. Similar products are now sold in some fast food chains.
1997 Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., a PepsiCo spin-off, was created to man-age fast food chains, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. In 2002, Tricon announced the acquisition of Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food. Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands, Inc. in 2003.
2005 The U.S. Department of Agriculture released MyPyramid, based on its revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans. MyPyramid recommends twelve different food pyramids based upon age, sex, and physical activity.
2006 After extensive pressure from consumer groups, the three major soft drink companies, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes agreed to ban sweet sodas from sale in schools.