How old are these 20 iconic snack food companies?

Margaret Rudkin began Pepperidge Farm (named after her family’s Fairfield, Conn. property) in 1937, initially only baking bread. After a trip to Europe in the '50s, Rudkin was inspired to expand her company’s products to include cookies as well, and the decision was so successful that Campbell’s bought Pepperidge Farm in 1961. The brand now is best known for its Milano cookies, Goldfish crackers and bread varieties.

Although it merged with the Pepsi-Cola Co. in 1965 to become PepsiCo, Frito-Lay initially began in 1932 when Charles Elmer Doolin purchased a corn chip recipe, a handheld potato ricer and 19 retail accounts from a corn chip manufacturer for $100. Doolin called it the Frito Co., and for a while beginning in 1937, it also sold Fritos Peanuts and Fritos Peanut Butter Sandwiches! The company became Frito-Lay in 1945 after teaming with potato chip manufacturer H.W. Lay & Co.

Although Slim Jims have only been around in their current form since the 1990s, the Slim Jim company actually began back in 1929 when Adolph Levis first conceived the idea of a packaged meat product. Levis later sold the jerky company to General Mills in 1967 for $20 million, and it is now owned by Conagra. Interestingly, Slim Jim’s very first manufacturing facility in North Carolina closed on May 20, 2011, which was coincidentally the same day that former product spokesman “Macho Man” Randy Savage passed away.

Utz has always been all about the potato chips. The company was founded in 1921 as "Hanover Home Brand Potato Chips," named after its hometown of Hanover, Pa. And we really mean “hometown,” because the business actually began in the house of founders William and Sallie Utz with only a $300 initial investment. Aside from its chips, Utz is also known as a major sponsor for the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals, and formerly the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.

Clearly 1921 was the year of the potato chip, as in addition to Utz, the snack food company Wise was also founded as the Wise Potato Chip Co. Now best known for its Cheez Doodles, bagged popcorn, tortilla chips and pork rinds, Wise was started by Earl Wise Sr., who began the company in Berwick, Pa. In 2012, Wise Foods was acquired by the Mexican company Arca Continental.

Although Rold Gold pretzels are now owned by Frito-Lay, the original company actually predates its current owner by 15 years. Rold Gold was founded in 1917 as the American Cone and Pretzel Co. by Philadelphia businessman L.J. Schumaker. The Schumaker family attempted to sell Rold Gold to a company called Red Dot Foods Inc. in 1960, but the deal fell through when Red Dot filed for bankruptcy, which is when Frito-Lay stepped in to save the day.

American snack food company Lance Inc. might not ring a bell right away, but the company has been around since 1917 and produces brands such as Captain’s Wafers, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Tom’s Potato Chips, Stella D’oro breadsticks and Archway cookies. The company was founded and is still headquartered in Charlotte.

Sun-Maid is currently the largest raisin and dried fruit processor in the world, but it wasn’t always that way. The product with the raisin maiden on the box started small back in 1912, when it was called the California Associated Raisin Co. Interestingly, the “Sun-Maid Girl” was actually a real person named Lorraine Collett, who was an employee of Sun-Maid who would help hand out samples at conventions. It was her own red bonnet that inspired the iconic logo.

American businessman Frank C. Mars founded the food company Mars Inc. in 1911, but it was his son, Forrest Mars, who later invented the Milky Way, Mars Bar and M&M's, among other chocolate treats. Forrest is also credited with starting Uncle Ben’s Rice and the pet food brand Pedigree. In addition to its signature chocolates and the aforementioned brands, Mars also makes Combos, Kudos and Flavia beverages.

Famed pretzel manufacturer Snyder’s of Hanover was started by Harry Warehime in 1909 as a small bakery in Hanover, Pa. Interestingly, Snyder’s attempted to merge with rival snack food company (and Hanover neighbor) Utz in 2010 but was blocked by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Instead, the company merged with Lance Inc. to form Snyder’s-Lance in the same year!

After developing his own method of blanching whole roasted peanuts, doing away with the troublesome hulls and skins, Mario Peruzzi began a partnership with Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici in 1906, and the two founded Planters with only six employees, two large roasters and crude machinery. Planters was later acquired in 1960 by Standard Brands, which merged with Nabisco Brands in 1981, which was acquired by Kraft Foods in 2000.

Maker of snacks such as Chips Ahoy!, Oreos, Ritz Crackers, Triscuits and Wheat Thins, Nabisco can trace its roots all the way back to 1898 when Adolphus Green and his American Biscuit and Manufacturing Co. merged with William Moore and John G. Zeller of Richmond Steam Bakery to form the National Biscuit Co. Nabisco is now owned by Mondelez International, formerly known as Kraft Foods Inc.

Blue Bell began in Texas as the Brenham Creamery Co. in 1907, however, it didn’t actually start producing ice cream until 1911. In 1919, the company almost folded, but a 23-year-old named E.F. Krause, who was in charge at the time, gave up his salary for several months in order to get the company back on its feet. In 1930, Brenham Creamery changed its name to Blue Bell, inspired by the Texas Bluebell wildflower.

Nestlé has been the largest food company in the world over the past three years, but the company’s origins are much more humble. Nestlé was formed in 1905 when two other companies — the Anglo-Swiss Milk Co. (founded by brothers George and Charles Page in 1866) and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé (established in 1866 by Henri Nestlé) — joined forces. In addition to chocolate and chocolate products, Nestlé also produces products under brands such as Gerber and Libby’s.

The name “Cracker Jack” was first coined in 1896 when Louis Rueckheim discovered a method to separate the kernels of molasses-coated popcorn during the manufacturing process. At the time, he had been brought on by his brother, Frederick William Rueckheim, to work at the then-named company F.W. Rueckheim & Bro. Cracker Jacks have since become synonymous with baseball (thanks to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”) as well as the little prizes hidden inside every box.

After a few failures, Milton S. Hershey founded the Lancaster Caramel Co. in 1886 and then sold it for $1 million in order to go into chocolate manufacturing, confidently claiming, “Caramels are just a fad, but chocolate is a permanent thing.” He was right, and the first Hershey’s chocolate product was released in 1894 to much success. Hershey started construction in 1903 on a plant in his hometown of Derry Church, Pa., which would later become known as Hershey, Pa.

General Mills now manufactures everything from Betty Crocker, Yoplait and Pillsbury to Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs and, of course, numerous breakfast cereals. The company dates back to 1856, when it was the Minneapolis Milling Co., which formed a partnership with the Washburn-Crosby Co. in 1877. After merging with 26 other mills in 1928, General Mills’ popularity soared, and the company later became the official sponsor of shows such as “The Lone Ranger” (1941) and “Rocky and His Friends” (1959).

Keebler dates all the way back to Godfrey Keebler’s Philadelphia bakery, which first opened in 1853. Keebler and numerous other bakeries then merged to form the United Biscuit Co. and became the official baker of Girl Scout Cookies in 1936. Keebler — now the maker of E.L. Fudge Cookies, Famous Amos and Cheez-It, among other products — is currently part of Kellogg’s.

The Lindt Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company (best known for its Lindor chocolate balls) dates all the way back to a small Zurich confectionery shop called David Sprüngli & Son, which opened in 1836. The father and son team decided to employ a fashionable new recipe from Italy for manufacturing chocolate in solid form in 1845, and the Lindt name was adopted in 1899 after Sprüngli acquired the chocolate factory of Rodolphe Lindt. Officially, however, it was actually called Aktiengesellschaft Vereinigte Berner und Züricher Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli (United Bern and Zurich Lindt & Sprungli Chocolate Factory Ltd).

Cadbury has gone from a small tea, coffee and chocolate beverage business founded in England in 1824 to the second-largest confectionery brand in the world — most known in America for its Creme Eggs. Cadbury later merged with Schweppes beverages in 1969 and was purchased by Kraft Foods in 2010.