Honoring National Thermos Brand Day
Trusted Since 1904
Every year, National Thermos Brand Day gives us a reason to pause and raise a cup — still perfectly hot, still perfectly cold — to one of the most enduring brands in American history. Whether you’re sipping morning coffee on a mountain trail, packing hot soup in a school lunch, or keeping lemonade ice-cold at a summer tailgate, Thermos® Brand is there. Always has been. And if the last 120-plus years are any indication, it always will be.
This is more than a brand anniversary. It’s a celebration of a way of life.
The Eureka Moment That Started It All
Every great story has an origin. Ours begins not in a factory, but in a laboratory.
In 1892, Scottish scientist James Dewar made a discovery that would quietly change the way the world eats, drinks, and explores. He invented the vacuum flask — a double-walled container with a vacuum between the walls that dramatically slowed the transfer of heat. The science was elegant. The implications were enormous. By 1898, the first commercial Dewar Flasks were being manufactured, initially serving science before the world realized their potential closer to home.
The vacuum flask was, in every sense of the word, a eureka moment. But turning a brilliant scientific instrument into something a family could use every day — that took a few more visionary minds.
1904: The Birth of an Icon
Our story truly begins in 1904.
In 1904, German glass blower Reinhold Burger and his business partner were producing scientific devices inspired by Dewar's work. They saw something no one else had: the potential to bring vacuum insulation technology out of the lab and into everyday life. They crafted the first domestic vacuum flask and patented the idea of protecting the fragile inner glass bottle with a durable metal casing — a stroke of ingenuity that made the product practical, portable, and built to last.
To name their invention, Burger and his partner did something wonderfully democratic: they held a public competition. The winning entry was Thermos — derived from the Greek word therme, meaning heat. A name as timeless as the product itself.
Just like that, a brand was born.
The founders didn't just create a product. They domesticated a technology — taking what lived in laboratories and placing it in the hands of everyday people like you and me. That act of making the extraordinary accessible is at the very heart of who we are.
From Brooklyn to the World
In 1906, American businessman William B. Walker encountered the Thermos® bottle while traveling in Europe. He immediately recognized what it could mean for American consumers. Walker founded The American Thermos Bottle Company and leased a factory in Brooklyn, New York, to begin manufacturing.
Demand grew faster than anyone anticipated. By 1912, plans were already underway for a much larger facility in Norwich, Connecticut — a site that would anchor Thermos brand production for more than a century to come.
From those early factory floors, something remarkable happened: the Thermos® bottle became a staple of American life. It went to work in lunch pails. It traveled to war. It sat on campsites, school benches, and kitchen countertops. It became the trusted companion of explorers, laborers, athletes, parents, and adventurers of every kind.
For over 120 years, Thermos brand has been woven into the everyday moments that matter most.
A Legacy Made to Last
What does it mean to be trusted for more than 120 years?
It means that generation after generation, people have reached for a Thermos® product and known — without question — that it would perform. Hot stays hot. Cold stays cold. The seal holds. The build endures. No surprises. No compromises.
The heart of Thermos brand has always been product quality and performance. From the very first vacuum flask to our latest innovations, every product we make carries the same promise that Reinhold Burger and William Walker made at the start: build it right, build it to last, and build it for real life.
That philosophy isn't a marketing strategy. It's a heritage.
Trusted Since 1904 isn't just a tagline — it's a track record.
More Than a Product. A Way of Life.
Today, Thermos® brand products travel to the top of mountains and to the bottom of lunch bags. They show up at early-morning practices and late-night road trips. They're packed by parents who grew up watching their own parents pack them.
The Thermos® bottle has always been about more than keeping beverages at the right temperature. It's about showing up prepared. It's about the ritual of pouring something warm on a cold morning, or cracking open something refreshing at the end of a long hike. It's about the confidence of knowing your gear won't let you down — no matter where life takes you.
That's the lifestyle Thermos brand has championed since day one. Not flashy. Not fleeting. Just dependable, beautifully made, and ready for whatever comes next.
Celebrate With Us
On National Thermos Brand Day, we invite you to celebrate the moments your Thermos® products have made better.
Share your story. Show us your Thermos product on the trail, at the game, in the office, or on the kitchen counter. Tag us and let the world see how a legacy brand shows up in real life — because after 120 years, the best chapters of the Thermos® story are still being written.
Here's to the next generation of explorers, families, and everyday adventurers who will carry on this tradition.
A Legacy Made to Last.
Ready to find your perfect Thermos® companion? [Shop the full collection at Thermos.com.]