Buzz
Since mass production took off, countless products have come and gone. Some successful innovations remain long after their time, slowly fading out, while interesting failures and misguided ideas are left behind, too.
These iconic products have stood the test of time, some for over a century. They've become integral to our culture, and the untold and captivating stories behind their invention and marketing are worth sharing.
10. Dr Pepper
There’s a common misconception that Dr Pepper was created by a doctor (we’re not sure why), but the truth isn’t too far off. The world’s oldest soft drink, created in 1885, was invented by Charles Alderton, a pharmacist at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. It’s also often believed that it was originally intended as a medicine, but that’s false. Alderton just enjoyed mixing up fizzy flavors in his free time, enjoying the sweet smell of fruity syrups mixing at the soda fountain, and he set out to create a drink that captured that very aroma.
Owner Wade Morrison was a fan of the new drink, and supposedly named it after a friend, Dr. Charles Pepper. As demand for the drink increased, Alderton and Morrison found it easier to sell the syrup to local merchants, who would then mix it with carbonated water on their own—marking the beginning of soda concentrate manufacturing.
Eventually, Alderton grew weary of the fizzy creations and sold his part of the business to Morrison, who then teamed up with Robert Lazenby, owner of a moderately successful ginger ale company. The duo introduced their creation to the public at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis—the same fair that also introduced the hamburger, hot dog, and ice cream cone. Since then, Dr Pepper has become one of the top soft drinks in the U.S.
9. Olay
Olay is a billion-dollar skincare brand owned by the renowned Procter & Gamble, which, until 1999, was known as Oil Of Olay in the U.S. and several other countries. Most of us recognize the familiar white, creamy product in the plastic bottle, but neither the packaging nor the formula was anything like that when it first debuted. Its development involved some rather unconventional testing and marketing methods.
In 1949, Graham Wulff, a South African chemist, created the product and named it Olay, derived from lanolin, the main active ingredient. Initially, it was a pink liquid housed in a heavy glass bottle, and Wulff, alongside his partner Jack Lowe, a copywriter and advertising expert, tested it on their wives—because, after all, what’s the worst that could happen?
Luckily, nothing went wrong, and the product proved to be effective in softening wrinkles and promoting healthier-looking skin. Early ads simply hinted at the “secret of a younger you,” without calling it a moisturizer—or giving any other clue about its purpose. In fact, the bottle didn’t specify what the product was for at all, relying on a sense of mystery, curiosity, and word of mouth. It worked, and the product, known by different names like Oil Of Ulay, Ulan, or Olaz in other countries, became firmly established in the beauty industry.
8. Listerine
Listerine was created by Dr. Joseph Lawrence, who named it after the pioneering work of Joseph Lister. However, it wasn’t originally intended for oral use—it was first developed as an antiseptic, and in fact, it was the very first of its kind. Before Lister's discovery that carbolic acid could kill germs, far more people succumbed to infections from surgical procedures than from the injuries themselves, as illustrated by the saying of the time: 'The operation was a success, but the patient died.'
Consider this: before Lister, infections were a major threat, and amputations were the most common surgery, performed to prevent infection from spreading. The death rate for amputations was around forty percent. By 1910, after about twenty-five years of Listerine's use, the death rate from amputations had dropped dramatically to just three percent. One can only imagine how many more lives, particularly from World War I—the deadliest war in history—would have been lost without the advent of Listerine.
Although carbolic acid was harsh on the skin, surgeons eventually switched to using boracic acid instead. However, Listerine’s popularity as an oral antiseptic grew, and soon that usage surpassed all others. Listerine not only pioneered the mouthwash market but also became the only product (with perhaps the exception of the condom) that both saved millions of lives and made date nights more enjoyable.
7. Play-Doh
Noah McVicker and his nephew, Joseph, are the inventors of Play-Doh, the non-toxic modeling clay with a strange smell that oddly makes you wonder what it tastes like. The story goes that Joseph McVicker had a conversation with a teacher friend about how troublesome traditional modeling clay—the kind his students used—was to work with and clean up, and that's when the idea hit him.
The McVickers owned Kutol Chemicals, a moderately successful company that sold a clay-like substance under their name as a wallpaper cleaning compound. Joseph sent a box of this substance to his teacher friend, and the kids loved it—even though it was only available in a dull off-white color, and the packaging, as shown above, was far from the fun branding we associate with Play-Doh today.
Word spread quickly, and before long, the McVickers realized the wallpaper-cleaning business wasn’t the future. They founded a new company, Rainbow Crafts, and began marketing their clay under the familiar name and in a variety of colors. General Mills bought the company in 1965, and it merged with Kenner in 1971. Fast forward to two billion cans later, and it’s hard to imagine Play-Doh ever being anything but a fun sculpting tool—or the perfect afternoon snack.
6. Bayer Aspirin
We bet there aren't many people over the age of five who haven’t taken a Bayer aspirin. Bottles of Bayer seem to appear out of nowhere in empty medicine cabinets. It feels like it's been around since the Middle Ages, but in reality, it had its beginnings in the 19th century.
In 1828, German professor Johann Buchner isolated salicin from willow bark, and just a few years later, Italian chemist Raffaele Piria converted the compound into salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. At first, no one knew what to do with it, because although it had pain-relieving properties, it also tended to irritate the stomach lining. The search for a solution continued, and French chemist Charles Frederic Gerhardt managed to buffer the compound, creating acetylsalicylic acid, which solved the stomach issue. However, he lost interest and abandoned his work on it.
In the late 1800s, German chemist and Bayer employee Felix Hoffmann rediscovered Gerhardt's work and successfully used the compound to treat his father’s arthritis. Bayer patented aspirin in 1900. However, after Germany's defeat in World War I, the Treaty of Versailles forced Bayer to give up its patent for aspirin, along with its patent for another famous drug—heroin.
5. WD-40
The man behind WD-40—a product you're almost certain to have in a can somewhere in your home—is Norm Larsen. In 1953, he founded his company Rocket Chemical with two other employees. Despite having only a high school education, Norm was a self-taught chemist with a deep passion for reading books on chemistry. His dream was to invent something truly useful.
This was during the early days of the US space program, and a big challenge in the Atlas rocket project was corrosion caused by moisture. Norm and his team figured this problem could be solved with a bit of chemistry, so they set out to create a formula that would displace water and prevent corrosion. After 39 failed attempts, they finally succeeded on the 40th try, creating the now-famous Water Displacement Formula 40.
In the mid-1950s, Larsen sold the company and the formula for $20,000—no royalties or other conditions, since he believed he could always invent something even better. In 1958, WD-40 was placed in aerosol cans and made available for consumers. By 1993, it was estimated that 80% of American households had a can of WD-40.
4. Jack Daniel’s
Jack Daniel, a renowned master distiller from Lynchburg, Tennessee, was crafting whisky in the mid-1800s. Surrounded by an abundance of natural resources, the region was home to numerous competitors. To outshine them all, Jack made it his mission to create a superior whisky. With a spring of remarkably pure water on his land, combined with his fastidious choice of grains, Jack set his product apart. He also perfected a unique filtration process, passing his whisky through ten feet of charcoal, ensuring a smooth and refined flavor.
By the mid-20th century, demand for Jack Daniel’s whisky skyrocketed. The brand became a muse for iconic figures such as William Faulkner and Frank Sinatra, who famously dubbed it 'the nectar of the gods.' Today, Jack Daniel’s stands as one of the most recognizable whisky brands worldwide, though the origins of its recipe remained shrouded in mystery—until recently.
In 2012, Mark Evans, a Welsh businessman, was researching his family lineage when he stumbled upon a book penned by his great-great-grandmother. This herbalist had recorded a recipe dating back to 1853 that could potentially be the original formula for Jack Daniel’s whisky. According to the company’s official website, Jack Daniel’s founder hailed from Wales, and Mark later discovered that his great-great uncle had migrated to America during the same time period. His name? John 'Jack The Lad' Daniel.
3. Cheerios
When cereal first emerged as a breakfast option, most people were content with traditional fare like bacon and eggs. In the 1930s and ’40s, the idea of heart-healthy foods wasn’t even on the radar, and cereals had to be cooked back then. The first ready-to-eat cold cereal, Cherrioats, was introduced by General Mills in 1940. This groundbreaking cereal could be eaten instantly by just adding milk. It quickly became popular, selling millions of cases in its debut year, and was advertised as ‘the breakfast food you’ve always wanted.’
Lester Borchardt, the General Mills employee who came up with the idea of puffing oats by shooting dough balls through an air cannon, must have felt a sense of triumph. Although his boss instructed him to stop goofing off and focus on something marketable, Lester didn’t listen. He spent the next two months defying his boss’s orders, perfecting the machine and continuing his experiment.
Another hurdle arose when a competitor had already claimed the name. After years of steadily increasing sales, a rival company wanted to cash in on the name too. In response, General Mills quickly rebranded. Over the years, countless variations of ‘O’s’ have emerged, and around the same time, the company shifted its marketing strategy, targeting children through advertisements on shows like The Lone Ranger and Mickey Mouse Club. This approach, which would become a widely imitated strategy, helped make Cheerios the most popular cereal in a short period.
So here’s a valuable lesson: when your boss asks you to stop fooling around and get back to work, just tell him you *are* working—and show him this article. Then, go ahead and invent something iconic and brilliant that will generate billions for the company. Easy, right?
2. Turtle Wax
Benjamin Hirsch had a passion for chemistry and cars—particularly the gleaming, glossy kind. He came up with a product called Plastone, a car polish that he mixed in batches in his bathtub. With his creation in hand, he would ride streetcars around town, stopping at gas stations to give demonstrations and hoping to sell a case or two.
One day, while passing Turtle Creek during his sales route in Wisconsin, Ben had a moment of inspiration. Just as a turtle’s hard shell protects it from the elements and shines, his car wax would do the same. The product, now renamed Turtle Wax, became his life's mission. He traveled the country demonstrating it, even secretly waxing people’s cars, hoping they’d buy a jar when they returned.
Ben’s determination helped grow the Turtle Wax brand into what it is today. But there’s more to the story—Turtle Wax is still owned by Hirsch's family, even after his death in 1966. The company continues to employ mostly family members and close friends, with many workers having been with the company for ten to twelve years. What began with just five hundred dollars now brings in over a hundred million dollars in annual sales.
1. ChapStick
Charles Fleet, a Virginia physician, created lip balm in the mid-1800s. He initially sold his product in small, waxy-looking tubes wrapped in tinfoil. While the lip balm was popular, after years of wrapping those little tubes, Dr. Fleet decided it was time to sell his idea by the early 1900s.
By 1912, Fleet’s business had started losing money, so he sold the lip balm formula to John Morton for the astounding price of just five dollars. Morton, alongside his wife, began producing the product in their own kitchen—mixing, melting, and cooling it into pieces. Their dedication to the lip balm business far outshone Dr. Fleet’s, as they used their earnings to fund Morton Manufacturing, which began to produce ChapStick on a much larger scale.
In the 1930s, Morton’s company enlisted artist Frank Wright Jr. to design the famous ChapStick logo, which is still in use today. Wright’s payment for the logo was fifteen dollars—three times what Fleet had originally been paid for the formula. If there’s ever been a more shrewd use of twenty dollars, we'd be curious to hear about it.
