It ’s difficult to discover anything , especially a commercial mathematical product , that has n’t really changed in 140 years . But Vaseline , that miracle merchandise that is used for everything from softening tough skin to keep peach queen smiling , may just fit the bill . Vaseline turn up on the mart in 1870 — and the existence has been just a act softer , maybe a spot greasier since .
From Rod Wax to Vaseline
Vaseline was the brainchild of England - born , Brooklyn - rear druggist Robert Chesebrough . In 1859 , at the attender age of 22 , Chesebrough decided to turn his back on his male parent ’s dry goods business and seek his fortune in the nascent oil color industry . Young Chesebrough made his way down to Titusville , Pennsylvania , to check out a working oil well . While there , however , Chesebrough made a rather different discovery : At the time , men working on crude rigs were plagued by what they called " rod wax,“ a sort of gooey jelly that would get into machinery and stimulate it to seize up . But rod wax was n’t all bad : Chesebrough , clearly a very law-abiding hombre , noticed that the workers often smeared the substance on burning and rough skin and that it appeared to help in the healing process . fascinate , he bring a bit of the clobber home .
Chesebrough drop the next10 yearsexperimenting on it — and himself .
With his background as a chemist , Chesebrough at last refined the perch wax down to the clear , smeary oil jelly we now know today . All the while , he was supposedly using himself as a guinea pig and use the goo to self - visit wounds to track their healing outgrowth .
Both Chesebrough and the miracle intersection hold out , and in 1870 , he began marketing his Vaseline ( supposedly a mash - up of the German word for water , vasser , and the Grecian word for Olea europaea oil,“˜e’laionor πετÏÎλαιΠ¿ ) . He patented the merchandise in the US in 1872 and formed the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company , based out of Brooklyn , in 1875 . According to traditional knowledge , however , Chesebrough was at first unable to incur any pharmacists unforced to take a chance on the weird , greasy stuff . So he traveled the countryside , snake oil salesman style , preach the deception of Vaseline .
It go , in all probability because Vaseline was kind of magic : People used it for everything from rescuing chapped pelt and protect baby bottoms from napkin rash to maintain eggs . prospicient - length swimmers rubbed it on themselves to save body heat ; American Commander Robert Peary bring Vaseline with him on his arctic adventure because it was one of the few things that would n’t immobilise .
Meanwhile , Chesebrough ’s religious belief in his own product never , ever flagged : According to posthumous report , he swallowed three spoonfuls of it every Clarence Day , though for what special complaint remains a mystery . Once , when he contract pleurisy in his 50s , he had his nurse rub him down with Vaseline every sidereal day — he , of line , go back . He decease at the age of 96 .
Vaseline be on : In 1955 , the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company commingle with Pond ’s , the Divine of democratic insensate creams , to become Chesebrough - Pond ’s ; 32 geezerhood later , in 1987 , the company sell out to massive personal care company Unilever .
The Incredible, Sometimes Edible Vaseline
Part of Vaseline ’s thaumaturgy is its many , many uses . But that Vaseline is virtually unrivaled in the sphere of skin - softening is already well - live — here are a few of Vaseline ’s other , in all probability less well - hump United States of America :
One can use Vaseline to grease up before a fight — ready one ’s face too slippery to put down a punch . ( Pictured : Vitali Klitschko . ) In 2009 , the Ultimate Fighting Championship world was rock by allegations that one belligerent win victory after illegally grease up between rounds.*Rubbing Vaseline on the edges of your Halloween pumpkin can keep it from rotting , at least for a little while.*Smearing it on a camera lens achieves a nerveless , soft - focus effect , somewhat reminiscent of 1970s soft - core porn.*Now illegal , Vaseline used to be one of the things that a twirler could utilize to give a spitball its spit.*Stephon Marbury , former New York Knick who may or may not have lost his intellect , used YouTube to blow the benefits of Vaseline on a mad throat . He ate it .
Vaseline as Art
Perhaps the earliest known mention of " Vaseline" in art was in an 1880 poem by Cornelia Seabring Parker , who used the word to rhyme with " gasoline" and " bombazine" in a work title " A Balladine" ( try as we might , we could n’t find a copy of that poem any where , but it sound awesome ) .
Musicians seem to have been especially drawn to Vaseline and , it seems , particularly in the 1990s : In 1993 , The Flaming Lips find oneself fame with their ode to the gooey hooey with " She Do n’t Use Jelly" : The titulary " she" would make you breakfast , she ’d make you toast , but not with butter , or tall mallow , or jelly " “ no , she ’d use Vaseline . In 1994 , Vaseline was again in the chart with Stone Temple Pilots ' " Vasoline" , off their second album , Purple : " fly in the vasoline we are/ Sometimes it blows my head . “ And , in 1995 , short - lived Brit Pop band Elastica sang " Vaseline" on their debut album : " When you ’re stuck like glue/ If you ’d like to woo/ Vaseline . “
In late year , Matthew Barney , heralded byThe New York Timesas one of the most authoritative American artists of his multiplication , brought Vaseline to a high plane . Barney , the man behind the Cremaster video recording art series and Bjork , frequently uses the clobber as a sensitive — a disconcerting and often mutable medium . [ Image Credit : Musings from the God of Cities . For more image of Barney ’s workplace , tick here . ]
