Mott's was founded in 1842 by Samuel R. Mott in Bouckville, New York, where he made cider. Mott's cider and vinegar caught on with his neighbors and, as demand grew, so did the size of his mill. Before the turn of the century Clipper ships were carrying Mott's champagne cider and casks of Mott's vinegar around Cape Horn to California. Mott's successfully exhibited their products at world fairs in Paris and Brussels. They promoted their wares at the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876 and the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, picking up first prizes for quality. In 1900, the Mott Company merged with the W.B. Duffy Cider Company of Rochester, NY. Duffy-Mott had been almost entirely in the cider and vinegar business then had an idea go into other fields such as champagne cider until Prohibition cut short its career. During the decade following acquisition of the Standard Apple Products Company and its plant in Hamlin, NY in 1929, Duffy-Mott introduced a series of new fruit products that contributed more to its growth than events of any prior decade. In 1930 apple sauce was added to the Mott line. In 1938, the company introduced Mott's apple juice. Because cider had become established as a purely seasonal item, it was believed that warehousing and other problems could be eased with a year-round apple juice. The company's production people and researchers went to work to develop processing techniques whereby the natural flavor and bouquet of apples could be captured in a bottle. Because of the location of its plants, Duffy-Mott had not been able to extend its Mott's lines west of the Rockies. But this changed in June of 1960, when the company leased the 407,000-square-foot plant and purchased all the processing equipment of the Pratt-Low Preserving Corporation from Thriftimart Inc., a West Coast food chain.