The trademark files of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office contain a great deal of American history. In most cases, the sales, acquisitions, mergers, refinancings, and other transformations of the businesses associated with a trademark are all recorded -- as are trademark disputes and agreements among businesses. The trademark records show, for instance, that the famous JELL-O^® brand was originally registered by the Postum Company in 1928. (If you're old enough to remember the Korean War, you might be old enough to remember Postum.) By the 1960s, General Foods had acquired the brand. Then, in 1989, General Foods merged with Kraft to become Kraft General Foods, Inc., which changed its corporate name to, simply, Kraft Foods, Inc., in 1995.