Noxzema ( nok-SEE-mə)[1] is a brand of skin cleanser marketed by Unilever. Since 1914,[2] it was sold in a small cobalt blue jar; but is now sold in a blue plastic jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally developed as a sunburn remedy, it is a type of cold cream or vanishing cream (so named because it disappears after being left on for a few minutes) which is used as a facial cleanser and make-up remover.
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It can also be used for soothing chapped, sunburned, or otherwise irritated skin; and for getting rid of acne and other blemishes (as it draws dirt out of pores when left on for a few minutes or more). Since the introduction of Noxzema, the brand name has appeared on shaving cream, razors, and skin-cleansing cloths.
The main product and its line extensions have been marketed by a series of companies: Noxzema Chemical Company, Noxell Corporation, Procter & Gamble and Alberto-Culver (Unilever).
The original formula for Noxzema was invented by Dr. Francis J. Townsend[3] (1875-?), a physician/druggist by 1900, in Snow Hill, Maryland; by 1910, in Berlin, Maryland; and by 1920, in Ocean City, Maryland.[4] The formula was called "Townsend R22" and referred to commonly as "no-eczema".[5] Dr. Townsend, who practiced near the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, prescribed it as a remedy, mainly to beach resort vacationers who were severely burned by ultraviolet sun rays.
Townsend later gave the formula to druggist George Avery Bunting (1870-1959), who for many years denied the transaction. In about 1917, Bunting began producing and selling "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy", marketing the product as an alternative to the greasy, tallow-based medicating creams in use during the period. For the first 3 years, George A. Bunting and Elizabeth Buck mixed, heated and poured the product themselves. The name was changed to Noxzema, supposedly because a satisfied customer exclaimed, "Sure knocked my eczema!".[2] An early slogan was "The miracle cream of Baltimore".[3]
Ownership
Beginning in 1920, the cream was produced by Bunting. In 1926, Noxzema Chemical Company broke ground and built a small factory in Baltimore, Maryland at the corner of W. 32 St. & Falls Cliff Rd.[6] In 1926, N.C.C. applied for a trade-mark with the U.S. Patent Office.[7] By 1937, 15 million units were being sold yearly.[8]
By the 1940s, the product was being sold throughout the United States, and it continued to be produced by the Noxzema Chemical Company. Management moved to the founder's son in 1949.[9] and, in 1966, the company was reorganized Noxell Corporation, but still under the ownership of the Bunting family.[10] Under a non-family member's leadership, the company "moved its headquarters to a building complex in Cockeysville, Md."[11]
In 1989 Procter & Gamble acquired the brand as part of the acquisition of Noxell. Alberto-Culver bought the rights to the brand in 2008 from Procter & Gamble[12] and operated the line of skin-care products[13] until Alberto-Culver was acquired by Unilever in 2010.[14] In October 2014, the Noxzema brand in Greece changed its ownership from Procter & Gamble to a domestic company, Sarantis, for €8.7 million.[15]
This "knocks eczema"[5] product, which says "shaving cream" on the container, was advertised from 1967 to 1973 as a medicated shaving lotion with the phrase "Take it off, Take it all off"[16] (referring to facial hair).[17][18] Earlier advertising, which had begun in the 1940s, via radio and print advertisements, was handled locally.[19]
In 1998 Proctor & Gamble unveiled "a foray into so-called nontraditional media" as "a break from traditional Noxzema advertising" in order to "stimulate sales of Noxzema skin cream among women ages 21 and over."[20] In 1999 they introduced and advertised product line extensions.[21]
