30 Rare Photos Of Then Newly-Established Companies Who Eventually Got Way Bigger

The very first Ford sold was to Dr. Pfennig in 1903, for a grand total of $850. The “Model A” had a 2-cylinder engine, and could reach a max speed of 30 mph. In 1914 Ford offered its employees double the current market average, creating Henry Ford’s “$5-a-day.” The new salary, accompanied by a shorter working day and company profit sharing, minimized employee turnover, and was significant in growing the middle class and fair wages movement. Henry Ford was quoted saying he wanted to help his workers to a “life” not just a “living.”

The first Dunkin’ Donuts opened in 1948 in Quincy, MA and on Tuesday, January 16th, we’re opening our store of the future concept right down the street!

In 1893, American pharmacist, Caleb Bradham developed a drink at his drugstore that would aid in digestion. He named it “Brad’s Drink”. 5 years later, however, he changed the name to Pepsi-Cola after the Greek word for digestion that sounded like “Pepsi” and “cola” after the kola nut. By 1904, the sales of the drink had increased to 19,848 gallons a year.

Disneyland originally opened in Anaheim, California on Sunday, July 17th, 1955 with a total of 18 attractions. The park now has 51 attractions.

When the park opened, admission was just $1. It's now $99. Over 84 million Mickey Mouse ears have been sold since Disneyland opened, making the ears the most popular Disneyland souvenir of all time.

As of December 2018, Disneyland had the largest cumulative attendance than any other theme park in the world. It has had more than 726 million visits since opening its doors.

In 2018 alone, the park had around 18.6 million visits (it was in second place for the most visited theme park that year, just behind Magic Kingdom, also owned by Walt Disney).

After working with his brothers in their dry goods wholesale business in New York City, Levi emigrates to Gold Rush San Francisco. He opens his own dry goods business to serve the small general stores of the American West

On August 18, 1949, Adi Dassler started over again at the age of 49, registered the “Adi Dassler adidas Sportschuhfabrik” and set to work with 47 employees in the small town of Herzogenaurach. In the same year, he registered a shoe that included the registration of the soon-to-become-famous adidas 3-Stripes. From humble beginnings to a global success story – which was accelerated by a miracle …

When Xerox got off the ground in 1906, it was as a maker of photographic paper and photography equipment called the Haloid Company. The company didn't introduce what we would think of as a copier until the Xerox 914 made its debut in 1959.

The store was originally named “The Golden Rule.” Today, JCPenney says the original name set the standard for which the company has operated on for more than a century, treating others the way it, too, would like to be treated. The name JCPenney was incorporated in 1913.

The Walmart Museum is currently located in Bentonville, Arkansas, and has a variety of exhibits on display about the history of the firm. One thing that visitors see is that the museum is in the same location as the Walton 5 & 10 – another Ben Franklin franchise opened up by Sam Walton in 1950. This was also the first business that ever held the Walton name

The studio was founded by Marcus Loew. MGM's famous "Leo the Lion" logo was a carryout from the Goldwyn Pictures part of the business