Companies Founded Before 1850

Koninklijke Grolsch BV, or Royal Grolsch NV, is the second largest beer brewer in The Netherlands.

With an activity dating back to the 17th century, Pochet SA has remained a force in France's glass-making industry by…

The Paulaner Brauerei GmbH & Co.

Fiskars Corporation, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, is one of the oldest companies in the western world, having…

Founded in 1665 as the royal glassmakers to Louis XIV, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain is a multinational group of over 1,000…

Canada's number one department store retailer, Hudson's Bay Company, is also Canada's oldest corporation.

1561: Demange Didier arrives in Strasbourg.

The Bank of Scotland's long history reaches back to 1695 when, uniquely among Scottish banks, it was founded by an Act…

Shepherd Neame Limited has the distinction of being among the oldest British brewers as well as the 15th oldest…

Acclaimed the world over for its Rémy Martin cognacs, the group Rémy Cointreau S.A.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ranks as the leading Scotland-based banking group and the number three bank in the…

Buderus AG is the holding company for the German Buderus concern, best known for three main divisions producing steel,…

Formerly a renowned maker of fine papers, Whatman plc has consistently reinvented itself to meet the emerging needs of…

While Rathbone Brothers plc (Rathbones) dates its history to a 1742 founding as a Liverpool-based shipping business,…

Sotheby's Holdings, Inc.

A household name among the world's needlepointers, France's Groupe DMC (Dollfus Mieg & Cie) is also the world's leading…

Originally an apothecary shop, Caswell-Massey Co.

The Netherlands' TPG N.V., formerly known as TNT Post Group, operates as the world's first publicly traded postal…

Founded in 1753, The British Museum is not only one of the world's oldest, but also one of the world's largest museums,…

While most companies are content to count their histories in years, Marie Brizard & Roger International S.A.

Barings PLC, sometimes referred to as the "Queen's Bank," has one of the most illustrious and dramatic histories in the…

Operated for more than two centuries as a regional brewer and distiller, The Greenalls Group PLC has in the space of…

Christie's International plc oversees the operations of one of the world's premier art auction houses.

Edinburgh, Scotland's Johnston Press plc has pressed itself into the ranks of the United Kingdom's top five regional…

Wilkinson Sword Ltd., formerly known as Schick-Wilkinson Sword in the United States, is the world's second-largest…

1553: The world's first joint-stock company is founded.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that generates income through postage and…

Debenhams Plc is one of the United Kingdom's longest continuously operating clothing and goods retailers.

The Bank of Ireland is the oldest bank in Ireland.

The North West Company, Inc., is the leading seller of food and other general merchandise in small towns across the…

A.W.

Her Majesty's Stationery Office, or HMSO, is an unusual type of company that, although owned and operated by the…

FleetBoston Financial Corporation is the eighth largest bank in the United States and the largest in New England, with…

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft claims the distinction of being the United States' oldest law firm, tracing its roots to…

State Street Corporation is a bank holding company conducting business principally through its subsidiary State Street…

Bonhams 1793 Ltd.

American Banknote Corporation is a holding company with subsidiaries in the United States, Brazil, Australia, New…

Bird Corporation (Bird), which began its third century of business in 1995, is best known for making asphalt roofing…

Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg is the world's third largest auction house, but lags well behind the much better known…

Thomas Nelson, Inc.--with roots dating to 1798--is the world's largest publisher of Bibles and Bible-related materials.

Located in eastern England, Greene King plc maintains a tradition of brewing beer in Bury St.

United Kingdom banker N M Rothschild & Sons Ltd.

Crane & Co., Inc.

Clifford Chance LLP is the world's largest law firm, based on its approximately 3,000 lawyers operating in some 30…

Switzerland's Georg Fischer AG Schaffhausen is a world-leading industrial engineering group engaged in four primary…

CoreStates Financial Corp is a major, Philadelphia-based regional bank holding company whose basic banking services are…

The Taylor & Francis Group plc is a fast-growing and leading publisher of scholarly journals, textbooks, and books.

Colgate-Palmolive Company's growth from a small candle and soap manufacturer to one of the most powerful consumer…

Stock Index: Brazil The history of Banco do Brasil intertwines with that of Brazil itself.

The largest financial services company in the world, with assets in excess of $1 trillion, Citigroup Inc.

Remington Arms Co.

AXA, an insurance group with mutual companies at the head of its financial structure, is the second-largest insurance…

For nearly 170 years the Harper name has been synonymous with the printed word, having cradled American publishing from…

Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) sees itself as the world's third-largest manufacturer of printing machines.

Assurances Générales de France, or AGF, is one of France's oldest and largest insurance companies, offering a full…

Erste Bank der Osterreichischen Sparkassen AG has broken out of the tiny Austrian banking market to become one of…

Invensys PLC grew out of the merger in 1999 of Britain's Siebe PLC and the British manufacturing conglomerate BTR PLC.

Wienerberger AG is the world's leading manufacturer of bricks, including hollow bricks and facing bricks.

Eridania Béghin-Say S.A.

Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is an anomaly in the British media market.

Groupe Bolloré is a diversified industrial conglomerate with leadership status in most of its operating areas.

The name Baccarat has become nearly synonymous with luxury.

Operating Revenue: $1.1 billion (1997) SICs:: 5912 Drug Stores & Proprietary Stores; 6512 Operators of Nonresidential…

Family owned, Reed & Barton Corporation is one of the oldest silversmiths in the United States, its roots dating back…

The Macallan, made by The Macallan Distillers Ltd., is one of the world's top selling Scotch whiskey brands, typically…

C&J Clark International Ltd.

The Standard Life Assurance Company (the Standard), is the largest mutual life office in the European Economic…

One of France's oldest newspaper groups, Société du Figaro S.A.

Bureau Veritas SA is one of the world's leading companies providing QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental)…

Few names are as famously fragrant as Guerlain.

Willis Corroon Group plc.

One of the central figures in British industrial history, Vickers plc of England was reorganized in 1998 to produce an…

Woolrich Inc.

Amoskeag Company is a holding and operating company, whose main revenue (98 percent) is derived from its control of…

Founded in Trieste in 1831, Assicurazioni Generali SpA is the largest insurance company in Italy and the fifth-largest…

Merriam-Webster Inc.

Rogers Corporation was originally founded as a paper mill in 1832 and segued from insulated paperboard into a wide…

The Bank of Nova Scotia, the second oldest bank in Canada, was the second largest Canadian bank in 2003 in term of…

The Valspar Corporation is the fifth largest North American manufacturer of paints and coatings, a business it has…

Old National Bancorp (ONB) is the largest bank holding company in Indiana, providing a variety of general banking and…

A subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), The Long Island Rail Road Company (LIRR) is the most traveled…

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is the world's oldest news agency and one of the world's top three, behind the United…

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is the second largest of the "Big Four" banks in Australia,…

Bertelsmann AG is the largest media group in Germany and Europe, and the second-largest in the world to the U.S.-based…

GEHE AG is the largest drug wholesaler in Europe.

Havas SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of utilities and telecommunications giant Vivendi SA, is the largest publishing…

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP is one of the oldest and largest law firms in the United States.

Marzotto S.p.A.

Midland Bank plc is one of the leading deposit banks in the United Kingdom.

The Riggs National Corporation operates a leading bank in Washington, D.C.

Villeroy & Boch AG has been one of Europe's top names in household and architectural ceramic goods for more than 250…

Bonnier AB is one of the Nordic region's leading media groups, losing out the top spot to Finland's SanomaWSOY in 2001.

The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company (CG&E) and its subsidiaries are primarily engaged in providing electric and gas…

Known as 'one of the world's most elegant businesses,' Hermès International S.A.

Stock Index: Milan Rome Florence Genoa Turin Trieste Riunione Adriatica di Sicurt&agave (RAS), the second-largest…

AXA Colonia Konzern AG is Germany's fourth largest primary insurer based in Cologne.

Stollwerck AG is one of Germany's largest chocolate manufacturers.

With branch offices in Dallas, Austin, New York, London, Moscow, Washington, D.C., and Baku, Azerbaijan, the…

Danzas Group is one of Europe's leading logistics groups, the European leader in overland freight-forwarding and…

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P & O) began as a shipping company.

C & A is a paradox.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) has been a focal point of Greek business and financial life almost from the time it…

New York Life Insurance Company is one of the largest insurance companies in the United States and the world.

Franco-Belgo-Swiss Barry Callebaut AG is the world's largest manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products for…

Foley & Lardner is one of the oldest and largest law firms in the United States.

Under the parentage of Inland Steel since 1935, Joseph T.

Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., better known as the New York Philharmonic, is the oldest symphony…

Ryerson Tull, Inc.

The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY) has been successful for most of its history.

In 1995 Fisons plc was acquired by Pennsylvania-based Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc., in turn wholly owned by France's…

The Economist Group Ltd.

Eiffage is one of France's leading construction and civil engineering groups, posting nearly FFr 32 billion in total…

Established in 1786, The Molson Companies Limited is perhaps best known for its brewery, which is the oldest in North…

The YMCA of the USA is a not-for-profit, charitable organization offering various services to local, independent YMCAs…

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG is one of the world's leading manufacturers of premium chocolate and…

While its larger U.K.

With more than $32 billion in assets and over 600 branch offices in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, National City Corp.

The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company focuses on providing individual life insurance.

Although property and casualty insurance company American Premier Underwriters, Inc.

CEO Paris Maoyedi has transformed Jarvis plc from a tiny, money-losing construction firm in the early 1990s to one of…

Jenoptik AG is a high-technology company, based in Jena, Germany, that specializes in the fields of systems engineering…

The Smithsonian Institution is the largest museum, education, and research system in the world, with 16 museums and…

The American Medical Association is the oldest and largest advocacy group representing American physicians.

Boatmen's Bancshares Inc.

One of the most revered names in jewelry, Cartier Monde (French for "World") is also the world's largest luxury…

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation is the holding corporation for a major Midwest bank, M&I Bank.

Martini & Rossi SpA has been producing its world-famous vermouth for nearly 150 years.

New England Confectionery Co.

The Woolwich plc is one of the United Kingdom's leading financial services providers, with over £30 billion in assets.

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) is one of the busiest commodities exchanges in the world.

Goulds Pumps Inc.

Lazard LLC is one of the last of the world's leading private investment banking firms, and one of the world's top ten…

Morton International&mdash′obably best known for its popular blue canister of table salt, featuring a raincoat-clad…

Prudential plc (known as "the Pru") has a long-standing history as a dominant force in financial services in the United…

Located in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, Richardson Industries, Inc., consists of several different divisions devoted to…

The Consumers' Gas Company Ltd.

The Associated Press (AP) describes itself as the largest newsgathering organization in the world.

Washington Gas Light Company provides natural gas to the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area including segments of…

Based in Westfield Center, Ohio, Westfield Group (unrelated to the identically named Australian real estate…

One of the most illustrious names in French financial history, Worms et Cie has functioned since the 1980s primarily as…

Davis Polk & Wardwell is one of the largest U.S.

Weinheim, Germany's Freudenberg & Co.

House of Fraser PLC bills itself as the United Kingdom's leading retailer of designer brands--the department store…

Leica Camera AG is a manufacturer of high quality equipment for photography, photographic reproduction, and observation.

Leica Microsystems Holdings GmbH (LMS) is one of the world's leading manufacturers of microscopes and related…

With its ubiquitous bright yellow post-buses and award-winning issues of elegant stamps, Schweizerische Post-, Telefon-…

William Zinsser & Company, Inc., is a leading U.S.