Colgate-Palmolive Company History
Written by Phin Upham
William Colgate, a soap maker from England, began a starch and soap shop in Dutch Street, New York. The company was stable, functioning under the name “William Colgate & Company” until Colgate suffered a heart attack in 1833.
He needed a few years to recover, and get himself back to stable health, but he did bounce back and reopened his business at the dawn of the 1840s. At that time, he began manufacturing soap, and cutting it into individual weights for sale. William Colgate died in 1857, and his son Samuel inherited the property. He changed the name to “Colgate & Company,” but his heart wasn’t in the business. He didn’t want the responsibility, but felt it was the right thing to do.
Under Samuel, the company introduced a fragranced soap called the Cashmere Bouquet in 1872. In 1873, the company sold its first tooth paste. The aromatic paste was sold in jars until 1896, when the dentist Washington Sheffield helped to invent Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream.
Meanwhile, B.J. Johnson and Company was selling a new kind of soap made entirely of palm and olive oils. It became so popular, that the company changed its name to “Palmolive.” Palmolive had an intense marketing campaign, covering several radio segments to push its products.
Both Colgate and Palmolive had been competing with Procter & Gamble, which was the largest detergent maker in the world at the time. Palmolive bought the Peet Company, a Missouri based soap manufacturer, then purchased Colgate outright, which helped both companies compete and stay afloat.
Phin Upham is an investor from NYC and SF. You may contact Phin on his Twitter page.