How to create a father’s love for the family name of the family Features

For most people, the memories of childhood cough and colds are synonymous with a smell with a dark blue jar with turquoise cover.

For more than a century, Vicks Vaporub was a familiar name across the continents. How did one have roots in the Flu Flu in the early twentieth century.

The story begins with a patriarchal love.

In 1894 in the state of North Carolina in the eastern United States, the nine -year -old pharmacist named Lunsford Richardson was sick with Croup, a respiratory infection that caused a bark -like cough.

Desperate to find a treatment, Richardson began testing a mixture of essential oils and chemicals in his hint and produced an ointment that helped his son.

But this was not Vicks Vaporub – at least not yet.

Seeing that his ointment worked for his son, Richardson began selling it for 25 cents for frying. The strong smell product consists of menthol, camphor, eucalyptus and many other oils mixed together at the Jelly Petroleum base. Help the ointments to open the banned nose, and when rubbing the chest, calm the steam cough.

Richardson initially called Cwocottion Vick’s Croup & Pneumonia Salve. It is an enthusiastic gardener, thought of the name after seeing an advertisement for the Fix factory seeds, which was like a menthol when crushed. He also borrowed the name from his son -in -law, Dr. Joshua Vic, a reliable doctor in the town of Greensburo. He felt that “Vic” was “short and easy to remember and Looked“.

“Magic” ointment to vaporub

in 191117 years after the creation of Salve, Henry Smith, son of Richardson, who once suffered from the Croup group, was directing family business. He renamed Vick’s Vaporub Salve from Salve Magic Croup Salve, the name that has been sold since 1905. That year, the package was also changed Transparent glass To the distinctive blue cobalt.

By that time, Richardson also created 21 remedies for various diseases, including in you Small liver pills For “Constipation and granular liver“Turtle oil” twisting, sores and rheumatism ”; Tar Hill Sarsabarella To purify “bad blood”; Grippe knocks on influenza. It was sold under Family remedies in you The company, which was established in 1905. But no of it was sold as well as the original ointment.

So in 1911, Henry stopped all other products, named Vick Chemical Company and started focusing only on marketing and distributing its distinctive products. The company started distributing large quantities of free samples, while sellers published ads on streets and visiting pharmacists, and urged them to experience the product.

Marketing during Spanish influenza

Seven years later in 1918, the most epidemic in modern history was tolerated all over the world. Spanish influenza has killed 50 million people-more than eight times the number of Covid-19 deaths.

This was when Vick Vaporub sales began to rise.

“Its closest rival was Elie’s Balm, bit of copying products, but he did not seem to have the same Cachet,” explained by Catherine Arnold, author of PandeMic 1918.

She added that there were other treatments for respiratory diseases, including coughs, colds and influenza, such as Horehound Honey and Tar. Some products have not tested time, such as “Bukon”, similar to modern nebulizers, and lozenges throat like formamint. It contained chemical formaldehyde, which is Toxic In large quantities.

However, a marketing campaign led by Smith took the Vicks brand to the global theater.

When the epidemic hit, the company produced a series of six advertisements. Instead of strengthening Vaporub’s Vaporub only, the series focused on increased awareness of Spanish influenza and included information about symptoms, treatment and advice to avoid disease. He urged people not to panic and report that the brand is interested in the luxury of people in a dark time. The advertisements said that the influenza was just another contrast in the influenza that hit every century and produces the germs attacking the nose and reed tubes. They said Vaporub’s vaporub “get rid of Grippe” and makes breathing easier.

Years later, the accuracy of this content was criticized. However, “at that time, this advertisement should have seemed to be reassuring, as the readers were told that it was the same ancient influenza, of course, was not.”

“The Spanish influenza was an unconventional autoimmune virus that attacked the smallest and fixed and caused unusual reactions, such as violent bleeding and famous hello -cherub when people turned blue.”

She added that the advice mentioned in ads to rest and stay in bed was “reasonable”, because the virus was spreading through human communication.

To become a familiar name

Sales rose, and in October 1918 – seven months after the outbreak of the epidemic – Vick Chemical Company told pharmacists that the huge demand had eliminated its excess shares. The supplies, which are expected to last four months, have run out of three weeks.

Newspaper notifications published at the time showed that the company had received orders of 1.75 million Vaporub tractors in one week, and the daily work rate was about $ 186,492. The tractor came Three sizes It costs 30 cents, 60 cents and $ 1.20.

“Big shipments are on their way to customers (wholesalers) by shipping and expression. Until their arrival, there may be a temporary deficiency. All deals are postponed. Buy in many,” read one notice.

The company informed the audience that he was working day and night to catch up. The requests that were received by the company’s daily product, and by November 1918, the company said that its factory was working 23.5 hours a day to produce 1.08 million tractors per week.

The product gained popularity all over the world during the epidemic, and according to the company’s data, Vaporub sales have grown from $ 900,000 to $ 2.9 million from 1918 to 1919.

After that, Vick Chemical Company continued to market its products in new ways. She sent millions of free samples to postals, and in 1924 a 15 -page advertisement was published in the form of a children’s book entitled The Story of Blix and Blee. The story, written in rhyme verses, was about two Blix and Blee who lived in the vicks Vaporub empty jar under the old jujube tree. One night, they rushed to save a sick child, Little Dick. The elves persuaded that the child, who was refusing to take the medicine that his mother provided, to use Vicks Vaporub to calm his cough so that he could sleep.

After more than 130 years, Vicks Vaporub was sold in about 70 countries on five continents with more than 3.78 million liters (over a million gallons) of information technology produced annually. From 2011 to 2016 alone, there were more than a billion units that were sold all over the world, according to its owner Procter and Gamble.

For Arnold, Vicks Vaporub is part of an American childhood.

She said: “Girls arose with us with this familiar complex of menthol, Urdu and pajamas from Vicks during the influenza season.” “This familiar blue and green sign is an American cultural icon like Coca-Cola or Campbell.”

This article is part of ordinary elements, unusual stories, and a series of sudden stories behind the well -known elements.

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