1893
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William H. Danforth, Founder |
| 1893 |
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Horses Always Have to Eat |
| 1894 |
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Robinson-Danforth Commission Company is founded in St. Louis. |
| 1894 - 1910 |
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Agricultural Volatility and Reform, and Manufacturing Might |
| 1896 |
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President and Majority Stockholder of Nothing |
| 1898 |
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A Whole Grain and a Doctor's Name; William H. Danforth assumes a leadership position and enters the cereal business with the endorsement of "Dr. Ralston." |
| 1902 |
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Thank you, Mrs. Brown; Ralston adopts the famous Checkerboard logo; The name of the Company is changed to Ralston Purina Company to reflect more accurately the business where "Purity is Paramount." |
| 1904 |
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Meet Me in St. Louis; Ralston gains exposure at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. |
1911 - 1928
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Prosperity for America, but Not for All Americans |
1921
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Checkers and Chows |
1926
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Father Doesn't Always Know Best; Ralston opens its nutritional studies facility at Gray Summit, Missouri; Ralston purchases the Ry-Krisp plant in Minnesota. |
1929 - 1940
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The Crash, The Great Depression and The New Deal |
1937
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Wheat Chex® is introduced. |
1940 - 1960
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World War II and the Post-War Boom |
1950
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Rice Chex® is introduced. |
1957
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The Eager Eater; New Pressure Cooked Purina® Dog Chow® dog food is introduced for grocery distribution. |
| 1959 |
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Ralston manufactures and sells 5 million tons of Chow® brand animal feed for the first time. |
| 1960 - 1972 |
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The Go-Go Years |
1962
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The Big Board and the Big Fire; Ralston stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange; a dust explosion and fire destroy the St. Louis plant. |
1966
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Ralston achieves its first $1 billion sales year. |
1968
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Ralston acquires Foodmaker, a California-based corporation engaged in preparing and supplying food for a chain of fast-food restaurants; Ralston invests in Keystone Resort. |
1973 - 1980
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Inflation and the Energy Crisis Take Their Toll |
1973
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Ralston sales eclipse $3 billion. |
1977
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Ralston acquires Missouri Arena Corporation and the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League franchise. |
1978
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Bremner Biscuit Company is acquired. |
198 0- 1990
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The Global Marketplace |
1982
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Bill Stiritz in named Chairman of Ralston Purina Company in January. |
| 1984 |
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Ralston acquires Continental Baking from ITT. |
1985
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The sale of restaurant operations is completed in a leveraged buyout to a new company owned by Foodmaker management and institutional investors. |
1986
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Ralston acquires Eveready Battery from Union Carbide Corporation; Ralston sells Purina® Mills to a subsidiary of The British Petroleum Company. |
1988
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The Van Camp Seafood Division is sold. |
1989
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Ralston acquires Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation from Nestle. |
1990 - 2000
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A New Reality |
1994
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Ralston spins off its cereal and smaller grocery human food businesses into a freestanding company named Ralcorp. The spin-off included Bremner, Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation, Keystone and Breckenridge ski resorts and American Redemption Systems; Ralston celebrates its 100th Anniversary at the Annual Shareholder’s Meeting in St. Louis. |
1995
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Ralston acquires the Golden Cat Corporation, North America’s leading marketer of cat box filler; Ralston sells its baking subsidiary, Continental Baking Company, to Interstate Bakeries Corporation of Kansas City, Mo. |
1997
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William P. Stiritz, Ralston’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, retires effective September 30, but remains as Ralston’s Chairman of the Board. |
1997
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W. Patrick McGinnis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ralston's Pet Products Group, and J. Patrick Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Eveready Battery Company are elected to be Co-CEOs of Ralston Purina Company, effective October 1; Ralston completes the sale of its Protein Technologies International subsidiary to DuPont; Ralston Purina acquires Edward Baker Petfoods, the UK’s leading manufacturer of extruded complete dry pet foods and a major supplier of branded and private label products to the European market, from Harrison & Crosfield plc. |
1998
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Ralston Purina Company completes the spin-off of Agribrands International Inc., formerly the Company's international agricultural animal feeds business. |
1999
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Ralston Purina announces its intention to separate its Eveready Battery Company subsidiary in a tax-free spin-off to shareholders. J. Patrick Mulcahy resigns as co-CEO of Ralston Purina Company, remaining CEO of Eveready Battery Company. W. Patrick McGinnis remains as CEO of Ralston Purina Company. |
2000
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Ralston Purina completes the spin-off of Eveready Battery Company. |
| 2001 |
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Ralston Purina Company merges with Nestlé subsidiary. Purina PetCare Company is created. |