Superlatives and Qualifiers

» Posted by Alissa on Oct 27, 2011 in My travels | 4 comments

The other day we sort of stumbled upon what was according to an informational sign the second oldest continuously operating business in the country. Once, the location of the Taylor Wharton Iron and Steel Company today the business is part of a larger international outfit that manufactures tanks for the storage and transportation of stuff like oxygen and liquid nitrogen. While that was all very interesting, we were curious. What was the the oldest continuously operating business in the country?

After enjoying our walk through the outdoors – with the exception of the part where the current factory is located the rest of the grounds are open to the public and are mostly filled with trees and waterways and woodland creatures (Though we did observe what appeared to be some sort of Hobbit house behind the fence of the actively used area. No clue what that was for.) – we headed home and turned to the internet to solve the mystery.

As you might have already guessed, there is no simple answer. My mother’s internet search yielded the answer Stroh’s Brewery. I quickly dismissed this answer because I knew for a fact that Yuengling is America’s oldest brewery. It says so on every single bottle, and I’ve drank enough of the stuff to know that no way could Stroh’s be the oldest continuously operating business in the country.

Another search yielded a list of the oldest businesses in the world. I remembered reading on one of the informational signs on our walk that Taylor Wharton was among the thirteenth oldest continuously operating businesses in the world so I thought this list might hold the answer to our question. It didn’t. There were a lot of businesses on the list. There were plenty that listed their address as somewhere here in the good old U. S. of A., but many of those had a founding date way before any businesses at all were located here. I’m sure the Zildjian Cymbal Company has been making cymbals since 1623, but I know they haven’t been making them since 1623 in Massachusetts. So, that threw another qualifier into the superlative claim put forth by the informational signage at the old Taylor Wharton Iron Foundry – oldest continuously operating business in the country still located at its original location.

The kicker is that that list of the oldest countries in the world didn’t even include the good old Taylor Wharton Iron Foundry. Since the business was founded in 1742, I checked around this date on the list and the only American business I located was a farm in North Carolina. A farm? Does that really qualify as a business? And if so, how does that work exactly? Do you measure its age from how continuously an acreage has been farmed regardless of whether or not its been carried on by the same family? If that’s the case then this area is probably chock full of really old businesses.

Anyway, from all that research I did learn a few things. First and foremost, the internet does not have all the answers. Second, businesses really like the idea of tacking on words that end in “est” to their labels, web sites and advertisements. Oldest is a pretty popular superlative and many, many business make this claim. Finally, qualifiers are the answer for those who want to tack the word “oldest” onto their sales literature. Add enough of them and sooner or later you will be able to say you are the oldest something or other.

I know this because this blog is proud to hold the distinction of being the oldest blog in Hunterdon County, NJ written by someone named Alissa.