The Kimberly-Clark Corporation was founded as Kimberly, Clark, and Company in Neenah, Wisconsin in 1872 by John A. Kimberly, Charles B. Clark, Frank C. Shattuck, and Havilah Babcock as a papermaking company. The company reincorporated twice to expand their mills and meet increasing demand for paper products: in 1880 as Kimberly & Clark Company and in the 1920s as the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. During World War I, the company developed cellucotton, a tissue made of creped cellulose wadding designed for treating wounds in place of surgical cotton. By the end of the war, the company began marketing cellucotton for use in disposable sanitary napkins and released its first feminine napkin, Kotex, in 1920. Throughout the 1920s, the company invested in disposable personal consumer products including sanitary items, handkerchiefs, and medical items among others. In order to more effectively market feminine sanitary products, the company created a separate subsidiary called International Cellucotton Products in the late 1920s which didn’t formally merge with the main company until 1955. The company expanded internationally from the 1950s to the 1970s, and by 1991 had transformed from a business paper producer to consumer paper production.

Sources:

Heinrich, Thomas and Bob Batchelor.Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies: Kimberly-Clark and the Consumer Revolution in American Business. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004.

“Kimberly-Clark.” Wikipedia. June 13, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly-Clark.

“Kimberly-Clark Corporation.” Encyclopedia.com. May 17, 2018. https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/kimberly-clark-corp.

The Johnson & Johnson Company was founded in 1886 by Robert Wood Johnson, James Wood Johnson, and Edward Mead Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey. From their founding through the early 20th century, Johnson & Johnson produced anti-septic medical and surgical products, such as cotton bandaging, first aid kits, and protective equipment before expanding into other personal care products. The company introduced the Modess sanitary napkin in 1927, followed by the MEDS tampon in 1940. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, Johnson & Johnson further diversified into the medical products field, including the development of contraception products in the 1960s and 1970s. The company continued to develop more comfortable and inconspicuous feminine products from the 1960s to the present.

Sources:

“Timeline of Our Story.” Johnson & Johnson. Accessed June 2, 2022. https://ourstory.jnj.com/timeline.

The Bristol-Myers Company was founded in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers as a pharmaceutical company. During the early 20th century, the company produced over-the-counter drugs as well as toiletry products. In 1943, the company began expanding to develop prescription drugs as well as cosmetics products, formula and nutritional supplements, and household products. Bristol-Myers merged with the Squibb pharmaceutical company in 1989 to form Bristol-Myers Squibb which produces biopharmaceutical products.

Sources:

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed June 16, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/technology/pharmaceutical.

“A Heritage of Improving Lives Through Innovation.” Bristol Myers Squibb.” Accessed June 16, 2022. https://www.bms.com/about-us/our-company/history-timeline.html.

The Campana Company was founded in 1927 in Batavia, Illinois as a cosmetic and feminine products company. It was most famous for production of “Italian Balm” hand lotion, later renamed “Campana Balm” during the outbreak of World War II. In 1958, the company merged with Allied Laboratories which was then sold to Dow Chemical in 1960.

Sources:

“The Campana Factory.” Wikipedia. Accessed June 16, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Campana_Company.

“Cosmetics.” Batavia Historical Society. Accessed June 16, 2022. http://www.bataviahistoricalsociety.org/exhibits-collections/industries-overview/cosmetics/.

Sterling Drug, Inc. was first founded in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1901 as Neuralgyline by William Weiss and Albert Diebold. The main products focused on pain-relievers until the company began acquiring other pharmaceutical companies throughout the rest of the century. The company rebranded in 1917 as Sterling Products and created the Winthrop Company to manufacture the ingredients for their products. In 1928 the company consolidated with the United Drug Company to form Sterling Drug, Inc. The company was dissolved in 1988 after it became a division within the Eastman Kodak Company.

Sources:

Collins, Joseph C. and John R. Gwilt. “The Life Cycle of Sterling Drug, Inc.” Bulletin for the History of Chemistry 25, no. 1 (2000): 22-27. http://acshist.scs.illinois.edu/bulletin_open_access/bull-index.php.