Step 1: Check the Facts

Read the Quick Facts—Some Early Industries in Waterloo.

Take notes on the following industries in Waterloo:

• The Altstadt & Langlas Baking Company
• Beck-Nauman & Watts Company
• Canfield Lumber Company
• Waterloo & Cedar Falls Rapid Transit Railway
• William Galloway Company
• Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company
• Rath Packing Company
• William A. Welty Company
• Litchfield Manufacturing Company
• The Iowa Dairy Separator Company
• The John Deere Company

Step 2: Create a Classification System

Create a classification system for grouping these industries. For example, you might classify them according to the following categories:

1. Goods or services
2. Food processing vs. non-food products
3. Products for the farm, products for people living in town

Step 3: Let Your Fingers Do the Walking...

Look in the yellow pages of the telephone book. Find the name of a company for each of these products:

1. Agricultural Machinery
2. Bakery
3. Dairy Separator
4. Lumber Company
5. Meat Packing
6. Fountain Pens
7. Gas Engines
8. Railroad/Transportation
9. Doors and Windows

Step 4: Find the Businesses that Still Exist Today

Check the Waterloo telephone book or yellowpages.com to see which of the following industries still exist.

1. The Altstadt & Langlas Baking Company
2. Beck-Nauman & Watts Company
3. Canfield Lumber Company
4. Waterloo & Cedar Falls Rapid Transit Railway
5. William Galloway Company
6. Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company
7. Rath Packing Company
8. William A. Welty Company
9. Litchfield Manufacturing Company
10. The Iowa Dairy Separator Company
11. Deere & Company (originally The John Deere Company)

Step 5: Which Ones Survived?

Why do you think these companies survived over 100 years?

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