Spic and Span is a brand of all-purpose household cleaner marketed by KIK Custom Products Inc. for home consumer use and by Procter & Gamble for professional (non-home-consumer) use.

History

The Ladies' home journal (1948) (14766679855)

On June 15, 1926, Whistle Bottling Company of

Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania Johnsonburg is a borough in Elk County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh and south of Buffalo, New York, in a productive farming and lumbering region. Paper mills were once common in the borough, with the Domtar mill still operating. In 191 ...

, registered "Spic and Span" trademark No. 214,076 — washing and cleaning compound in crystal form with incidental water-softening properties. The modern cleaner was invented by housewives Elizabeth "Bet" MacDonald and Naomi Stenglein in Saginaw, Michigan in 1933. Their formula included equal parts of ground-up

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...

, and trisodium phosphate; though trisodium phosphate is no longer part of the modern formula out of a concern for environmental damage from phosphates making their way into waterways. Stenglein observed that testing in her house made it spotless, or "spick and span". They took the k off "spick" and started selling the product in brown envelopes to local markets. From 1933 to 1944, both families helped run their "Spic and Span Products Company". On January 29, 1945, Procter & Gamble, a major international manufacturer of household and personal products based in Cincinnati, Ohio, bought Spic and Span for $1.9 million. On August 30, 1949, Procter & Gamble registered the "Spic and Span" trademark (soluble cleaner, cleanser, and detergent). The product was advertised in many soap operas, serving as the main sponsor of '' Search for Tomorrow'' for two decades. In 1999, the Mexican-American organization LatinosUSA organized a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

of Spic 'n' Span. The word

spic ''Spic'' (also spelled ''spick'') is an ethnic slur used in the United States for people from Latin American countries and states. Etymology Some sources from the United States believe that the word ''spic'' is a play on a Spanish-accented pron ...

can be a derogatory term for a person of Latino descent, and "spic and span" has been used to ridicule mixed-race couples of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

and Puerto Rican origin. The brand, along with Comet, was acquired by Prestige Brands in 2001. In 2018, Prestige Brands sold the brand to KIK Custom Products Inc. Procter & Gamble retained the rights to market the brand to the professional (non-home-consumer) market in the United States. However, the product is no longer advertised on television over concerns of racial-slur associations after the 2020 George Floyd Protests.

Usage

The powdered form must be mixed in water to use. A liquid version is also available. Although considered all-purpose, it is "not recommended for carpets, upholstery, aluminum, glass, laundry, or mixing with bleach or ammonia" as written on product label.

Etymology

The product was named from the older phrase "spick and span". The phrase "span-new" meant as new as a freshly cut wood chip, such as those once used to make spoons. In a metaphor dating from at least 1300, something span-new was neat and unstained.Martin, Gary
Spick-and-span
Phrases.org.uk. Accessed 2019-03-08. Spic was added in the 16th century, as a "spick" (a spike or nail) was another metaphor for something neat and trim. The British phrase may have evolved from the Dutch ''spiksplinter nieuw'', "spike-splinter new".Online Etymology Dictionary
Accessed 2007-01-16. In 1665,

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

used spicke and span in his famous diary. The "clean" sense appears to have arisen only recently.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spic And Span Cleaning products Prestige Brands brands Former Procter & Gamble brands Products introduced in 1933 Cleaning product brands