Richardson-Vicks

Sterling-Winthrop, G. D. Searle, Merrell, Marion (initially), A. H. Robbins, and Richardson-Vicks, while European competitors acquired Cutter, Morton, Marion (second-hand), Rorer, and Syntex. Hence no new major pharmaceutical companies were established after the 1920s. 

The pandemic had a powerful economic effect as well. Sales of flu remedies, none of which was effective against the virus, skyrocketed. As it turned out, the product that may have benefited most from the scourge was Vicks VapoRub, introduced in 1905 by Lunsford Richardson, a druggist in Selma, North Carolina. The rub s main ingredient was menthol, a compound extracted from oil of peppermint. 

Richardson sold Ben-Gay, and he heard such testimonials from his customers. So he blended menthol into petroleum jelly and produced Richardson s Croup and Pneumonia Cure Salve. When rubbed on the chest, the stuff did produce the sensation of heat, and as the menthol evaporated it did clear the nasal passages. The product s name was too long, however, so Richardson sought a shorter, catchier one. He had a physician brother-in-law called Joshua Vick, and Vick had given him access to the laboratory where he d created his salve. A grateful Richardson decided to name it Vicks VapoRub, and the name stuck. 

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