Chesebrough Manufacturing Company

Chesebrough
Manufacturing Company
Company typeSubsidiary (1881–1911)
Private (1911–1955)
IndustryPetroleum
Founded1859 (1859)
FounderRobert Chesebrough
DefunctJune 1955; 69 years ago (1955-06)[1]
FateMerged with Pond's in 1955 to form "Chesebrough-Pond's Inc.", then acquired by Unilever in 1986[2]
SuccessorChesebrough-Pond's Inc.
ProductsPetroleum jelly
BrandsVaseline
ParentStandard Oil (1881–1911)

Chesebrough Manufacturing Company (/ˈtʃiːzbroʊ/)[3] was an oil company, founded in 1859, which produced petroleum jelly under the brand names Vaseline[4] and Luxor.[5] Robert Augustus Chesebrough, a chemist who started the company, was interested in marketing oil products for medicinal use. He produced the first petroleum jelly by refining rod wax, a paraffin-like substance that formed on oil drilling rigs,[6] using heat and filtration. He named the substance Vaseline, from the German word for water (Wasser) and the Greek word for oil (olion). Vaseline was patented in the United States in 1872 and England in 1877.

Chesebrough today is part of the British consumer products company Unilever, which acquired Chesebrough and Pond's (the two of which merged in 1955) in 1986.[1]

  1. ^ a b Chesebrough-Pond’s on Cosmetic and Skin
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference unilever was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference curb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Lambert, Isaac E. (1941). The Public Accepts: Stories Behind Famous Trade-marks, Names and Slogans. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-4050-8029-6.
  6. ^ "Petroleum Product of the Week: Petroleum Jelly". Fuel for Thought. July 22, 2016. Retrieved 2022-10-28.