Lysol [Lehn & Fink, Inc]

1920 "Lysol Disinfectant" advertisement.

HISTORY/TIMELINE

1902 Lysol as the ideal antiseptic for gynecological work ad.

1874 - Lehn & Fink, Inc. is founded in New York City, New York  at 160 William Street, a nondescript, one-story building.[1]

1909 "Lysol" advertisement w/ a 2-oz. bottle facsimile.

1885 - Lehn & Fink Inc. relocates to a new, and much larger building at 128 William Street.  This building was was burned down in January 25, 1901 in a fire.

1913 advertisement for the three Lysol bottle sizes.

1889 - Dr. Gustave Raupenstrauch introduces the first Lysol Brand Antiseptic Disinfectant formula in Germany to combat a cholera epidemic occurring at the time.[2]

1917 Lysol bottle and box ad.

1890 - Lehn & Fink introduce the Lysol brand to the United States from Hamburg, Germany.[1]

Figure X, John St. building.

1901 - More space was required by this point, so a new, 63,000 sqft., eight-story tall building was built, extending from 120 William Street around to 79 John Street in an "L" shape.

Figure X, 1910 photo of the Barrow St. building.

1907 - Even more space was needed by this point, so a new plant was erected in Brooklyn, New York during this year for the thriving company.  Two additional buildings were subsequently added (Figure X).[3]

1894 Hind's Honey Almond

 Cream ad.

1907 - Lehn & Fink buys out A.S. Hinds Company (est. 1875), manufacturer of Hinds' Honey and Almond Cream, though A.S. Hinds Co. remained largely independent.

1921 "Lysol Disinfectant" ad.

1912 - Lehn & Fink negotiates the licensing agreements to begin manufacturing their own Lysol in the United States.[1]





1918 - Lehn & Fink advertise Lysol disinfectant as effective protection against the influenza virus during the Spanish flu pandemic.[2]

Figure X, Illustration of Greenwich St. headquarters.

1920 - Lehn & Fink, Inc.'s executive offices and stock rooms relocate to new, 170,000 sqft., seven-story tall headquarters at Greenwich and Morton streets in New York (Figure X, Y, & Z).[3]

Figure Y

Figure Z

1922 "Lysol Disinfectant" ad.

1922 - Lehn & Fink purchases Lysol from the Germans.





















Early 1925 - The company's new manufacturing plant and laboratories, consisting of seven buildings on a tract of twenty acres of land, begins operation in Bloomfield, New Jersey at 192 Bloomfield Ave. (Figure X).

Figure X, 1922 illustration of the Bloomsfield plant.

July 1925 - A new holding company called Lehn & Fink Products Company is created to acquire Lehn & Fink, Inc. and A.S. Hinds Co. 


August 1925 - Lehn & Fink Products Company goes public at $36.50 a share.[1]

1939 Lysol for feminine hygiene ad.

Late 1920s - Lysol disinfectant begins to be aggressively marketed towards women as a feminine hygiene product.  Women were instructed to dilute the Lysol disinfectant solution to about 1.0% concentration, and use it as a vaginal douche in order to maintain "freshness" and stave off infections.  This was also used as a method of birth control.

1920 "Lysol Disinfectant' ad.

1930 - Lysol Brand Disinfectant Liquid is introduced to drug stores and hospitals.[2]




1947 - Lehn & Fink opens their Lincoln, Nebraska plant on Limit Street.


1967 - Sterling Drug Company acquires Lehn & Fink Products Co.










Trademarks

Trademark filed Oct. 1, 1894

Trademark registered June 12, 1906.

Trademark registered Jan. 13, 1920.

Trademark registered Oct. 19, 1926.

Trademark registered Mar. 22, 1927.

 
BOTTLE ANALYSIS/IDENTIFICATION






This bottle that I found is a round, amber glass medicine bottle.  The finish style is a wide prescription finish.  The side mold seams taper to nothing at the neck.  Air bubbles are visible throughout the thick glass.




















Embossed sideways along the body is Lysterine in cursive script, the tail end of its l curves around to underline the word.

The base has no embossments except for a simple J.

1920 "Lysol Disinfectant" ad.

REFERENCES

[1]"Lehn & Fink Products Co."  Lehman Brothers Collection: Contemporary Business Archives.  President and Fellows of Harvard College.  Harvard Business School: Baker Library, Historical Collections. 2012.  <http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=lehn_fink_products_co>.

[2]SIMMONS, W.H. THE HANDBOOK OF SOAP MANUFACTURE.  SCOTT, GREENWOOD & SON.  London.  1908.  <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21724/21724-h/21724-h.htm>.

[3]American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record, Volume 68.  American Druggist Publishing Company.  1920.  <http://books.google.com/books?id=2FkgAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA95#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

[4]"LYSOL US Trademarks".  Trademarken: Experts in Brand Protection.  2014.  <http://www.trademarken.com/list/0/mark/LYSOL>.