Jacoby's German Biergarten

While moving my son to Detroit last week, he decided he needed a beer break.  Being unfamiliar with the city we drove around for a while and my husband spotted a sign for Jacoby's German Biergarten.  It seemed appropriate, so we stopped and it was great!  They advertise themselves as Detroit's oldest saloon and have been in operation since 1904.  There seems to be some confusion as to whether the Jacoby's are still involved in the business: our server showed us a framed document that said the place was run by 4th generation Jacobys; but that might have been old since a Crain's article from 2013 said the business was for sale by an out-of-state investor.  The same article said they had offers they were negotiating and were hoping to find someone interested in being part of the "comeback of Detroit."  Guess they found someone!

These Companies Celebrated Their 200th Anniversary in 2013

Since I don't have a record of any companies still in operation that were founded in 1814, I will profile the two I found that celebrated their 200-year anniversary last year:

Continental Grain Company (ContiGroup) was established in 1813 as a grain trading firm in Belgium.  In 1940 they moved to New York City; today it is one of the largest privately-held companies in the United States.

                                                            

Cooper, Erving & Savage is a law firm in Albany, New York that traces its origins back to the firm of Van Vechten and Van Vechten, which was first reported to have existed in 1813 but may have originated even earlier.  

Aunt Millie's

 

While making my breakfast this morning I discovered another 100-year-old company.  Reading bread wrappers isn't the most efficient way to build a data base, but it is typical of how I have found many of the old companies for my research. 

 Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is a family-owned company headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It operates six bakeries in three states, producing bread and other bakery products.  The company was founded in 1901 as the Fort Wayne Biscuit Company. Since the goal of the company was "perfection," the company was later renamed Perfection Biscuit Company, then Perfection Bakeries, and later to Aunt Millie's Bakeries after its popular line of breads.  Today's president, John F. Popp, is the grandson of the founder.

Aunt Millie’s produces baked goods including bread, buns, rolls, English muffins, bagels, and muffins and employs about 1,600 people in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky.