Victor Samuel Johnson Jr. (June 12, 1916 – January 19, 2008) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

who was president of

Aladdin Industries Aladdin is a brand notable for its line of character lunchboxes including Hopalong Cassidy, Superman, Mickey Mouse and The Jetsons. Today, Aladdin continues to be a food and beverage products brand and is owned by Pacific Market International, ...

, a manufacturer of vacuum bottles, kerosene lamps, and stoves. He was notable for creating the market for decorative

lunch box A lunch box (or lunchbox) is a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying. In the United States In the Unit ...

es. The company was further diversified under Johnson's leadership. He was a businessman in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Aladdin Industries

Johnson graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

in 1938 and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in 1941. (archived) (archived) He served as a second lieutenant from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

until February 1946. His father Victor S. Johnson Sr. died in 1943, so upon his discharge, Johnson Jr. took over the Mantle Lamp Company of America, the company his father founded in 1908 that provided kerosene lighting to rural America.

Lunch boxes

Johnson moved Aladdin Industries' operation from

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1949 to Nashville to save money on natural gas needed for glass making. In 1950, in an effort to increase

vacuum flask A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that slows the speed at which its contents change in temperature. It greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or coo ...

sales, Aladdin attached

Hopalong Cassidy Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He wa ...

decals to plain metal

es they had been selling since the 1940s. Sales jumped from 50,000 to 600,000 units the first year and transformed the lunch box industry.

Litigation over "thermos"

Because their lunch boxes included a vacuum flask for holding

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

s, Aladdin became embroiled with King-Seeley over use of the term

Thermos A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an thermal insulation, insulating storage vessel that slows the speed at which its contents change in temperature. It greatly lengthens the time over which its contents r ...

, which was a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

. According to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, "In a 1963 court ruling, it was established that Aladdin and its customers use the word thermos in all lowercase, never use the word in solid capitals letters and can only have an initial capital letter if the rules of grammar require it. Additionally, the word thermos must be preceded by a possessive of the name Aladdin and in advertising it must clearly identify material as Aladdin."

Development of downtown Nashville

In 1956 Johnson was elected president of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. Johnson worked on the consolidation of city and county governments in 1963. Aladdin, in 1958, was selected as the subject of a ''New Horizons'' network television documentary, with special emphasis on its clean, efficient manufacturing, a welcomed improvement over smokestack factories prevalent at that time. In 1963, Aladdin was honored with presentation of an E-Award as designated by the late President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

for excellence in export expansion. Johnson was one of the developers for MetroCenter during the redevelopment of downtown Nashville in the 1970s. Nashville banker William F. Earthman said in 1979, "Without Victor Johnson, we never would have had Metropolitan government. He had a vision and absolute determination to see it through when an awful lot of people didn't like the idea."

Later life

Johnson remained active in philanthropic causes throughout his life. He was chairman of the board of trustees of

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first m ...

in Nashville from 1956 to 1983 and was honored with a life membership on the board. He was also a member of the board of trustees of George Peabody College for Teachers from 1954 to 1964. The Judge William E. Miller Prize at Yale Law is a gift from Victor S. Johnson Jr. in memory of judge William E. Miller. He and his wife founded the Nancy and Victor S. Johnson Jr. Foundation. In 2005, Johnson figured by happenstance in the

Seigenthaler incident On May 26, 2005, an unregistered editor created a hoax Wikipedia article about journalist John Seigenthaler. The article falsely stated that Seigenthaler had been a suspect in the assassinations of U.S. president John F. Kennedy and U.S. attorn ...

, a controversy over a

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

posted as a

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article about prominent Nashville resident John Seigenthaler Sr. Seigenthaler told reporters that Johnson was the first person who alerted him about the article. Johnson died in Nashville of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

, at the age of 91. He was survived by wife Nancy, son Victor S. Johnson III, daughter Christine Tyler, and five grandchildren.

References

External links

Aladdin Industries Inc. Records, 1889-2003 #844
via the

. *Honorable Bob Clement (Extension of Remarks — November 16, 1989)
A Tribute to Victor S. Johnson Jr.
via Library of Congress. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Victor S. Jr. 1916 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Nashville, Tennessee Yale Law School alumni Deaths from colorectal cancer in Tennessee United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers