We all know about the global empire Colgate-Palmolive, but do you know how it ever started? From England to America at only 15 years old, starting with a job as an apprentice to a soap boiler William Colgate, later opened up a little shop in New York and with his knowledge in the soap industry he became one of the wealthiest men in New York. Even though William was very prosperous, he was still very generous to all the people around him.When William Colgate started his business, who would have known his company was going to be one of the most important oral hygiene companies in the world.
William Colgate
William Colgate was an English-American soap industrial who founded in 1806 what became the Colgate-Palmolive. He was born in Hollingbourne, Kent, England, on January 25th, 1783. He was the son of Robert Colgate and Sara Bowles (Baptist Cameos). When William was fifteen he packed up everything and he migrated with his family to Maryland in 1798. They moved because of his father’s political sympathy for the American Independence war and the French Revolution. While in Maryland, William helped his father manufacture soap and candles but it was not until he moved to New York City, in 1804 he had a job as an apprentice to a soap boiler (Challies). He learned useful lessons for his own guidance by watching methods practiced by his employer. At the end of his apprenticeship, he was able to start his own business with the things he had learned (Baptist Cameos). While in New York Colgate attended a Presbyterian church pastored by Dr. Mason, one of the most outstanding preachers in New York. He was also a very admirable person amongst the church members along with the success of his business. However, he joined the First Baptist church of New York where William Parkinson baptized him in 1808 after he rejected infant baptism when he corresponded with his Baptist father at the church he used to attend. In the end, he still remained an active church member throughout his life and was known for his financial generosity, but also for faithfully serving the people of his church (Challies).
Founding the Company
William established a starch, soap, and candle business, two years later in 1806 in Manhattan, on Dutch Street, naming it William Colgate & Company, when William was only 23 years old. His business failed but he was determined, so after a couple years his business started to prosper. So in 1820, he started a starch factory in Jersey City, New Jersey. In the factory they produced Windsor toilet soap and Pearl Starch, which were two major products produced in the factory (History). Because he followed his goal he soon became one of the wealthiest men in New York City (Baptist Cameos).
Later on in life, in 1811, William married Mary Gilbert, and had three sons, Robert, James and Samuel (Baptist Cameos).
Stopping his business sales in 1833, he suffered from a heart attack, but with slow recovery he got back into business. Although the company changed the name to Colgate & Company after his death in 1857 at the age of seventy-four it did not stop the business from running and was under the management of his son Samuel Colgate (History). A couple of years later Samuel and the company introduced a perfumed soap, but it wasn’t until 1873 when the company introduced its first Colgate Toothpaste. The aromatic toothpaste was sold in jars. They sold their toothpaste in jars until 1896 when they sold their first toothpaste in a collapsible tube. The toothpaste that Colagte produced was soap based and had soap for extra cleanliness (Boyd).
Merging with Palmolive
There is a story behind how Colgate & Company became Colgate Palmolive. Starting with three brothers, the Peet brothers, who moved to Kansas City, Kansas from Cleveland, Ohio looking for fortune in 1872 and found a small but thriving village, which they thought had opportunities to grow. They started very small with eight hundred dollars and were wanting to join the soap manufacturing business. They had no employees so all of the buying, manufacturing, selling, and collecting was done by the three brothers. They made their soap in an iron kettle stirred by hand and cooked over a stove until the world’s best selling soap was born (Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company). There was also another company being founded while the Colgate family was managing manufacturing operations on the East Coast. In 1864, there were soap factories being opened by B.J. Johnson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the name of B.J. Johnson Soap Company. Later on in 1898, Johnson’ s company introduced Palmolive soap, which very soon became the world’s best selling soap. The palmolive soap had palm and olive oils, and from the soap being so successful the firm ended up changing its name to the Palmolive Company in 1916. The Peet Brothers, who sold laundry soap mainly in the midwestern and western states merged their company with Palmolive in 1926 forming Palmolive-Peet Company (Colgate-Palmolive Company History). Two years later in 1928 Palmolive-Peet joined Colgate & Company to create Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 “Peet” was dropped from the title leaving only “Colgate-Palmolive Company”, which is now the current name of the company (Boyd).
Products and Ads
In the 1940’s the Colgate Company introduced new products that included Fab detergent and Ajax cleanser which was introduced in 1947. Ajax was brought to the TV’s attention with an ad consisting of the Ajax Pixies. They were among the first animated commercial mascots and were a trio of elves with the tagline “Floats the dirt right down the drain.” Although they had a good ad for Ajax Norman, Craig and Kummel created a new campaign, “the blue dot cleanser,” which consisted of an animated white tornado. Another product that the Colgate Company introduced that had a very good commercial was Palmolive dishwashing liquid. It was introduced in 1965 and ads for the dishwashing liquid emphasized on how gentle the soap was; you could even use it on your hands. NCK spots introduced Madge, the manicurist, who soaked her clients’ nails in dish soap. The theme lines for the commercial were “Palmolive softens hands while you do the dishes” and “you’re soaking in it.” Madge the Manicurist was a very good and helpful campaign for the Palmolive dishwashing liquid because by 1967 the sales for the product passed $1 billion. The marketer continued to use the Madge character in advertising until 1991. Though the majority of Colgate products were pitched to women, some were specifically aimed at men. In 1972, Colgate introduced Irish Spring, a deodorant soap for “manly men.” This helped Colgate become diverse. In 1981, the Colgate Company celebrated its 175th anniversary, introducing Winterfresh gel, and extension of its toothpaste brand (Colgate-Palmolive Co.).
Even Though William started small, with his shop on Dutch Street, in New York, he became the founder of the Colgate Company, now known as Colgate-Palmolive and he became a very important person in this world. Without the introduction of William’s product we would not be able to say that we use Colgate toothpaste and thanks to him we now can take care of our teeth. But William showed us that anybody can be successful if they work hard and never give up, because when his business did not go very well he was determined. So we should all persevere and follow in William’s footsteps because if you really wanted something, you would go and get it.