Nokia has a long history, dating back to 1865 when Fredrik Idestam, a mining engineer, created a pulp mill near the town of Tampere, Finland (then in the Russian Empire). A second pulp mill was created in 1868 near the town of Nokia, itself nearby Tampere. In 1871, Idestam together with friend Leo Mechelin formed a shared company and called it Nokia, after the town of the second pulp mill. For the next 90 years, Nokia on its own would be a forest and power industry company, with activities such as electricity generation.
In 1922, Nokia was jointly-owned with a trio partnership with Finnish Cable Works (Suomen Kaapelitehdas, formed in 1917) and Finnish Rubber Works (Suomen Gummitehdas, formed in 1898). Finnish Cable Works manufactured telephone and electrical cables, whereas Finnish Rubber Works created galoshes and other rubber products.