Hanes
John Wesley Hanes' brother Pleasant H. Hanes founded the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company in 1901. The brothers previously operated a tobacco manufacturing business, that they sold to R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1900. The P.H. Hanes Knitting Company merged with Hanes Hosiery in 1965. The P.H. Hanes Knitting Company complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Consolidated Foods (later renamed Sara Lee) announced its purchase of Hanes in 1978.
Hank's Root Beer
It was John and Tony's grandfather Pietro (Pete) who came to the Philly area from Italy, settling in North Philadelphia in the early 1920s. After paying his dues as a proud immigrant, and building a nest egg while working as a laborer, Pete founded a successful grape-hauling business. Later, in the early 1950s, he launched Salvatore Beer Distributors, one of the city's first and most ambitious local distributorships, which he ran with his cousins and, later, brand namesake, young Hank.