Augustus Eugene Staley began making and selling corn starch in 1898. Later that year he married and moved to Baltimore, Md. and continued his business there. In 1904, a great fire in that city resulted in the loss of his modest plant. Not to be discouraged, he began selling stock for a new company, and in 1906 A.E. Staley Mfg. Co. was incorporated. His time in Baltimore was short lived, however. In 1909, he would move his family and his company to Decatur, Illinois where the company still operates today. This antique shipping crate, with its great graphics,is a rare survivor from the nascent years of this historic company.