Buying and selling as we know it - not the barter system with spices and silk kind - but with the exchange of money, has been around for years now. Even during two world wars, it survived in albeit a hyperinflated format, where for example, in war ruined Germany, people had to line up with sacks of deutschmarks to buy one loaf of bread because the price of bread had gone up to 3,000 DM! Well, a world war makes for an unusual circumstance. But some brands existed even back then and continue to do so even today.
The brands which have stood the test of time since before the second world war and they are such enduring brands that even the subject of their mascots getting a brand makeover creates quite a stir. Well, these brands are etched in people's memory and to have created a lasting niche for oneself, is in itself, a remarkable achievement. But to have lasted this long, with competitors cropping up everywhere and offering variations-on-the- same-theme kind of products, is what brand stickiness is all about.
Newsweek did a good story on such brands - not all of them are pre-war but most are. They still are continuing to bring in the shoppers and retailers still stock them. How many Indian brands will last this long is anyone's guess. Take a look at them here: http://photo.newsweek.com/2010/1/brand-makeovers.html?GT1=43002