On February 19, 1847, the first rescuers reached surviving members
of the Donner Party, a group of 89 California-bound emigrants led
by the Donner and Reed families, stranded by snow in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. Three additional rescue parties arrived later.

The trip back to Sutter’s Fort was also brutally hard. Only 45 of the original 89 members of the Donner Party survived.

Amedeo Obici   (July 15, 1877 – May 22, 1947)

In 1906, Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici, along with his
friend and business partner, Mario Peruzzi, founded
Planters Peanut Company in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He
started his career as a bellhop and fruit stand vender
in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Obici later moved to Wilkes-
Barre, opened his own fruit stand, and invested in a
peanut roaster. He turned peddler within a few years,
using a horse and wagon, and calling himself "The
Peanut Specialist". Today, the snack food company
is a division of Kraft Foods.

A 1917 drawing of the company’s brand icon by artist Elmer
Cecil Stoner based upon a contest entry by 14 year old
Antonio Gentile.

    1921

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