by Gary Hoover | Feb 5, 2021 | Articles, Articles, Consumer Products, Newsletters, Technology
From the telegraph to the modern age, high technology has seen continuous innovation, followed by the rise of numerous competitors, then consolidation into fewer companies, and finally decline. Here is one of our favorite stories. The advent of television rivals...
by Gary Hoover | Dec 5, 2020 | Articles, Articles, Articles, Consumer Products, Media & Entertainment, Newsletters, Other Industries
Rudolph Wurlitzer and his sons Howard and Farny Wurlitzer The Wurlitzer Company is one of the most interesting companies we have studied. At their peak, their slogan was “Music for the Millions.” Here is the story of this formerly great company, based on...
by Gary Hoover | Nov 13, 2020 | Articles, Articles, Consumer Products, Data, Data, Healthcare, Newsletters
“Big pharma” and “biotech” are in the news these days. Politicians attack the industry and the price of drugs. At the same time, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and others hurry along to develop a COVID vaccine. These companies have been among the...
by Gary Hoover | Oct 23, 2020 | Articles, Consumer Products, Newsletters
For decades America’s largest food company, General Foods was one of the most highly regarded marketing companies in the world. Formed in the roaring twenties by consolidating companies that led the way in convenience foods, GF became an industry giant. ...
by Gary Hoover | Oct 16, 2020 | Articles, Articles, Consumer Products, Newsletters
A current buzzword is “pivoting,” which means changing your company’s strategy and direction, often into entirely new businesses. Pivots are frequent in young companies trying to find the best markets and a footing for future opportunities. Here we look at...
by Gary Hoover | Sep 25, 2020 | Articles, Articles, Consumer Products, Newsletters
Every industry tells a story of competition: the rise and fall of companies. Technological industries often see more “changing of the guard” than more stable businesses like food, soap, and beverages. One of the first high-tech industries in America...
by Gary Hoover | Aug 7, 2020 | Articles, Consumer Products, Newsletters
Here is an unsung but key part of the long and illustrious history of Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most successful and well-known brands. Few realize the links between the company and the patent medicine (quack) products of the 19th century, which connect it to...
by Dave Stanwick | Jul 9, 2020 | Articles, Consumer Products, Newsletters
This article first appeared in the Archbridge Institute’s American Originals Series. Born in rural Pennsylvania in 1857, Milton Hershey attended seven different schools and never made it beyond the fourth grade. At fifteen, he found his passion in a...
by Fred Phillips and Dan Merchant | Jul 4, 2020 | Share Your History
It is easy for manufacturers and retailers to know how much product moves out their doors. It is harder, but very necessary, for businesses to know what kinds of people buy what kinds of goods, with what frequency, the degree of brand loyalty, and whether it’s in...
by Gary Hoover | Jun 19, 2020 | Articles, Articles, Business in General, Consumer Products, Newsletters
America has hundreds of thousands of privately-held, family-owned businesses. Thousands of them are large. The list of the largest ones is topped by the hundred-billion-dollar grain and commodities dealer Cargill, the diversified Koch Industries, and candy...