Buzz
This week, Vidal Sassoon, the legendary hairstylist who transformed the haircare industry, passed away at 84. Known for creating the iconic 'bob' haircut, Sassoon believed women could achieve stylish looks effortlessly, simply by washing their hair, eliminating the need for frequent salon visits. Starting in the 1950s, he built a global chain of salons and expanded his line of haircare products. To honor his legacy, here are 11 other men who named their renowned brands after themselves.
1. Adolph “Adi” Dassler – Adidas
© Schnoerrer/dpa/Corbis
In the 1920s and 30s, Adi Dassler and his brother Rudolph ran a successful shoe company in Germany. Their footwear gained fame when German athletes wore Dassler Brothers shoes at the 1928 Olympics. However, during WWII, the brothers had a bitter split. Both joined the Nazi party, but Rudolph, more fervent, left to fight, while Adi focused on producing shoes for the military. After the war, Rudolph founded Puma, and Adi rebranded the original company as Adidas, naming it after himself.
2. King Camp Gillette – Disposable Razor
King Camp Gillette recognized early that consumers preferred short-term, disposable products. Frustrated with the hassle of sharpening razors, he invented a disposable version. After five years of development, he launched the Gillette Safety Razor Company in 1901. His innovative business model involved giving away razors for free while charging for replacement blades. Gillette also envisioned a socialist utopia, proposing a single publicly-owned corporation and even offering Teddy Roosevelt $1 million to lead it, though Roosevelt declined. He dreamed of a massive city called Metropolis, powered by Niagara Falls, where all Americans would reside.
3. Candido Jacuzzi – Hot tubs
The Jacuzzi brothers, originally from Italy, moved to California in the early 1900s and initially focused on aviation innovations. Their most notable achievement was designing the first enclosed-cabin airplane, purchased by the US Postal Service. Concerned for their safety, their mother persuaded them to shift careers, leading them to develop hydraulic pumps for irrigation and hospitals. In the 1940s, Candido Jacuzzi invented a hydrotherapy pump to help his son Kenneth, who suffered from arthritis. Although he patented the design, it wasn’t until Roy Jacuzzi joined the business later that the Jacuzzi hot tubs became a commercial success.
4. Charles Rudolph Walgreen – Drug stores
Today, Walgreens operates over 8,000 pharmacies across the United States. However, Charles Walgreen initially had no connection to the pharmaceutical industry. In the late 1800s, he worked in a shoe factory until an accident cost him part of a finger. The physician who treated him persuaded him to apprentice at a drugstore. After becoming a licensed pharmacist, he served in the Spanish-American War before utilizing his skills. Post-war, he established pharmacies that offered additional conveniences like over-the-counter products and soda fountains. These stores quickly became popular social spots, and by his death in 1939, Charles had built a chain of hundreds of Walgreens locations.
5. Earl Tupper – Tupperware™
Earl Tupper didn’t start in the plastics industry. Initially a landscaper, the Great Depression forced him to close his business. He later joined DuPont, where he developed a durable, lightweight plastic used in WWII gas masks. In 1948, a decade after founding Tupperware™ Plastics Company, he partnered with Brownie Wise, who had been successfully selling Tupperware™ at women’s gatherings. Together, they shifted the business model, removing Tupperware™ from store shelves and selling it exclusively through home-based 'Tupperware™ Parties.'
6. Frank Zamboni – Ice Resurfacers
Image credit: Zamboni.com
Before refrigerators became widespread, the ice production industry thrived. However, by 1939, refrigerators had gained such popularity that Frank and his brother saw no future in their ice block business. Left with numerous refrigeration units, they pivoted to opening an ice rink. Frank, despite only having a 9th-grade education, devised a method to resurface ice efficiently. Initially, it took three workers 90 minutes, but in 1949, Frank invented the precursor to today’s ice resurfacing machine. This innovation allowed one person to resurface a rink in just ten minutes. The term 'Zamboni,' now synonymous with ice resurfacing machines, became a trademarked name. In April 2012, the 10,000th Zamboni was delivered to the Montreal Canadiens.
7. Dr. Klaus Märtens – Footwear
During WWII, Klaus Märtens, a German army doctor, designed what would become Doc Martens boots while recovering from an ankle injury. After the war, he acquired leather from abandoned Luftwaffe airfields and began crafting durable, comfortable boots. Surprisingly, 40% of his early customers were housewives. As his boots gained popularity, a British company acquired the rights to distribute them in the UK. To avoid anti-German sentiment in 1959, the brand was renamed Doc Martens, making it more appealing to English-speaking markets.
8. Orville Redenbacher – Popcorn
Orville Redenbacher, the man behind America’s favorite popcorn, didn’t launch his product until he was nearly 50. He spent years developing corn hybrids, eventually creating 'RedBow,' a variety that popped 40% larger than standard corn. Despite its higher cost, Orville’s marketing strategy—featuring his name and face on the packaging—proved successful. Starting in the 1970s, he became a familiar face in TV commercials and talk shows, convincing consumers of his authenticity and the quality of his popcorn.
9. Josiah Wedgwood – Pottery
Josiah Wedgwood is best known for his iconic pottery, but his life was far more dynamic than this legacy suggests. A passionate abolitionist, he designed a medallion featuring a kneeling enslaved man with the inscription, 'Am I not a man and brother?' Mass-produced and distributed freely through the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, the medallion became a symbol of the anti-slavery movement. Women wore it as jewelry, and men adorned their pipes with its image, making it the most recognizable depiction of a Black person in the 18th century. Though Josiah passed away before slavery was abolished in England, his legacy lives on not only through his pottery but also as the grandfather of Charles Darwin.
10. William Henry 'Boss' Hoover – Vacuums
The name Hoover is so ingrained in vacuum culture that in the UK, it serves as both a noun and a verb. However, it wasn’t Boss Hoover who invented the vacuum. James Murray Spangler, an asthmatic janitor, created the first upright vacuum in 1908 to combat dust from carpet sweepers. After lending a prototype to his cousin Susan Hoover, her husband, Boss, saw potential. A leatherworker facing declining demand due to the rise of automobiles, Boss purchased Spangler’s patent. Despite initial disinterest in his 'sucking machine,' a clever marketing strategy—offering free home trials—catapulted the Hoover Company to international success within four years.
11. Linus Yale, Jr. – Locks
Linus Yale, Jr. began his career as a talented portrait artist. However, after his father’s death in 1858, he took over the family lock business. Leveraging his artistic skills, Linus designed increasingly sophisticated and secure locks. To outshine competitors, he mastered lock-picking and demonstrated the vulnerabilities of rival locks to banks and businesses. His innovative designs earned Yale the title of the top lock manufacturer in the U.S. Tragically, Linus suffered a fatal heart attack in 1868 during negotiations to install his locks in a new skyscraper. * * * If you’re curious about other eponymous brands, let us know in the comments, and we’ll explore them in a follow-up.
