The Knox family moved to Johnstown, New York in 1876. Charles Knox was seeking a commercial enterprise. He watched his wife, Rose, prepare homemade gelatin and decided the product would be marketable. In 1890, they set up a gelatin business in a four-story wooden factory. Rose published her gelatin recipes in an 1896 book called "Dainty Desserts for Dainty People." After Charles' death in 1908, Rose continued to run the business and turned it into a successful company.