Vaseline

1870 a young New Yorker pharmacist named Robert A. Chesebrough succeeded to manufacture Vaseline from a byproduct of oil production. The popularity of these nourishing ointment grew so rapidly that in the US almost every household had a can of Vaseline within ten years. Every minute a can was sold. During World War I the American soldiers and officers had a tube of Vaseline thereby to relieve burns and abrasions and to prevent sunburn. During World War II Vaseline even was a patriotic symbol in the United States. In the 1940s, Vaseline Hair Tonic was a popular brilliantine that was promoted by former personalities. 1955 the company merged to Chesebrough-Ponds and in 1987 it was bought by Unilever.