On January 24, 1955, a memorandum was distributed at Schaar and Company, an established scientific supply company in Chicago begun in 1905 and owned by Bernard and CL Schaar. The memo read:

“You may have heard that Jerry Cole and John Parmer are leaving us soon, and we want them to know they take with them our best wishes for success. John and Jerry are going into business together, and we sincerely hope their success in the new venture will be in direct proportion to their own hopes and expectations.”

Little did anyone dream...

1955		Cole-Parmer Instrument Company established 224 W. Illinois Street, Chicago, IL, 1,200-square-foot loft Owners — Mr. Jerome Cole and Mr. John Parmer Hired first employee, Alberta Pinson- 3/5/55
1957		Publication of first nationally direct-mailed catalog
1960		Moved to 7330 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IUL, 12,000-square-foot facility
1968		Acquired Barnant Company (Masterflex^® pumps) Moved to 7425 N. Oak Park Ave., Niles, IL 47,000-square-foot building, three acres of land with 38 associates. Before company moved again, the building was expanded three times and additional warehouse and office space was leased.
1972		International Division established
1975		Published and direct-mailed the first 4-color color catalog in the industry
1985		Wholesale Department established
1989		Opened Labcor in Montreal, Canada later named Cole-Parmer Canada Opened service center in Bejing, China
1991		Acquired Gilmont Instruments
1995		Moved to our present, 269,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Vernon Hills, IL
1996		Acquired Manostat Pumps
1996		Opened Cole-Parmer UK in London, England www.coleparmer.com debuted on April 22
1999		e-Commerce division established in April
2002		Launched InnoCal^® Calibration Service and Repair division
2005		Cole-Parmer China established in Shanghai, China Launched customized 2005/2006 General Catalog for international markets
2006		Cole-Parmer established office in Mumbai, India BioConnect^® program established in May, offering single-use custom assemblies
2009		Published 256-page General Catalog in Chinese
2010		Released first Portuguese language catalog featuring 48 pages of Masterflex® pumps, tubing, and more. Also published first Spanish version of the same catalog. Launched first “How-To” video on calibrating a pH meter.