Pond's is an English brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

History

Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. Mr. Pond created an extract from witch hazel 'Hamamelis'' spp.which he discovered could heal small cuts and other ailments. The product was named Golden Treasure. After Pond died, it would soon be known as Pond's Extract. In 1849, the T. T. Pond Company was formed with Pond and other investors. Soon after, he sold his portion of the company because of failing health. He died in 1852. In 1914, the company was incorporated under the name Pond's Extract Company. The company then moved to

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, establishing its manufacturing center there. Later it moved its sales office to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1886, Pond's began to advertise nationally. It advertised under the name of Pond's Healing until 1910. By the twentieth century, the company's main emphasis was selling cosmetics products. Pond's Vanishing Cream and the Pond's

Cold Cream Cold cream, also known as ''ceratum refrigerans'', is an emulsion of water and certain fats, usually including beeswax and various scent agents, designed to smooth skin and remove makeup. Cold cream is a water-in-oil emulsion (emulsion of small a ...

marked the entrance of Pond's products into the facial care industry. Today Pond's products are sold around the world. The largest markets are in

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and in Asia, including India, Japan and Thailand.

1910s

By 1910, Pond's was a well-established brand among Americans. Concentrating mostly on their vanishing cream, the Pond's company began an ad campaign that would become popular because of the celebrities involved in it. Pond's Healing took a back seat to Pond's Vanishing Cream, as Pond's Healing and Pond's Cold Cream would be announced in small print under the Pond's Vanishing Cream advertisements. By 1914, mentions of Pond's Healing were taken off the ads, and the Pond's company began to advertise Pond's Vanishing Cream and Pond's Cold Cream together, making sure to explain each cream's different purposes on the new ads. One such ad line read, "Every normal skin needs these two creams." As a result of the new campaign, Pond's Vanishing Cream had a 60% increase in sales during 1915, and Pond's Cold Cream had a 27% increase.

1920s-'40s

By 1922, sales of the products had gone down, as many believed that such an easily available product could not perform as well as other, fancier products. The Pond's Company responded by seeking testimonials from royalty, politicians, and people of high-class stature and placing ads in chic magazines such as ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

''. In 1923, for example,

Queen Marie of Romania Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last queen of Romania from 10 October 1914 to 20 July 1927 as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal fa ...

visited the United States and enjoyed Pond's product so much that in 1925 she wrote to the Company requesting more. Her letter was, in turn, used for advertisement, and Her Majesty joined the list of celebrities who had sponsored the products. Around the time of her U.S. visit, the Pond's Company began to place samples of their products with their magazine ads and to use the brand

mascots A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, repres ...

of "Peter Ponds" and "Polly Ponds." The marketing strategies proved successful, as sales of the Pond's facial creams went up again. "Peter" and "Polly Ponds" disappeared from the company's ad campaigns after 1925. During the

Depression Era The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of the 1930s, the company's business, like many others, slowed. The company added a face powder called Angel Face, first marketed in 1946.

Company mergers

Pond's Company was merged in 1955 with the

Chesebrough Manufacturing Company Chesebrough Manufacturing Company () was an oil company, founded in 1859, which produced petroleum jelly under the brand names Vaseline and Luxor. Robert Augustus Chesebrough, a chemist who started the company, was interested in marketing oil pro ...

, whose brand held a good percentage of the facial care field. With this merger, Pond's creams became sisters with

Cutex Cutex is a brand of nail care products, owned by Revlon, Inc. The original product was developed and established in 1911 by Northam Warren Company, based in Stamford, Connecticut. History Northam Warren created the first fingernail cuticle remo ...

nail polish and Matchabelli perfumes. With Chesebrough in command, Pond's creams became available at many supermarkets across the United States. The creams' bottles consisted of small, glass bottles with a round cap. The bottles were recognizable by their distinctive colors, usually in green, blue or white. The bottle design is still in use by the Pond's brand. In 1987, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company, popularly known as Chesebrough-Ponds, was acquired by the

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Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

company

, giving Pond's creams a more international reach.

References

External links

Pond's official website

Pond's Institute
UK re-branding {{Use dmy dates, date=February 2021 Unilever brands Products introduced in 1846