Judson Dunaway
Encyclopedia
S. Judson Dunaway, 1890-1976, was an inventor, entrepreneur
, and to the community of Dover, New Hampshire
, a philanthropist
.
: He wrote a chapter on the Dunaway coat of arms in the book "The Dunaways of Virginia", by Anna Elizabeth Clendening.
specialty chemicals, including Delete rust
and stain remover, Vanish
toilet bowl cleaner, Elf drain cleaner, Expello moth crystals
and insecticide
, and Bug-a-Boo moth crystals and aerosol
.
Moth crystals aren't a complicated product, either; they're just paradichlorobenzene
, possibly with perfume added. Moth crystals have largely been displaced by moth balls, which are made of naphthalene
, for liability reasons: while naphthalene is highly toxic, paradiclorobenzene is more toxic still. Furthermore, the entire moth preventative product category has declined with the adoption of synthetic fiber
s, which moths do not eat, and the adoption of air conditioning
, which makes it harder for moths to reproduce.
, which added aluminum shards to generate heat and provide a sharp edge to cut through hair, but it was equally good as any of Drano's other me-too competitors. Delete rust and stain remover consisted of oxalic acid
(an anti-rust agent), citric acid
(a chelating
agent) and microcrystalline cellulose
, a very soft abrasive
. It was a good product, but not an inspired one, and it addressed a very small niche in the marketplace.
and surfactant
s. Most household cleansers are alkaline (basic) in nature, but toilet bowl cleansers are acid
ic.
Dunaway is credited with inventing Vanish - except that he didn't invent it so much as wait for the patents for Sani-Flush to expire in 1932, and then introduced Vanish in 1937. His marketing was good enough to distress Hygienic Products, who had been making Sani-Flush since 1911, and they sued him for trademark infringement in 1945. When the case was resolved in Dunaway's favor, it was a landmark ruling; the case is still commonly cited in infringement lawsuits.
also took note of Judson Dunaway's marketing skills, although they weren't admiring them. The Judson Dunaway Corporation, General Mills
, and Swanee Paper
Corporation were charged with violating the Clayton Act in dealing with Grand Union
Co., a large eastern supermarket chain. Grand Union agreed not to carry similar products to those of Dunaway and General Mills, and Grand Union received promotional allowances not available to Grand Union's competitors. All four companies signed consent decree
s, a legal document in which one does not admit to doing anything wrong, but agrees to stop doing it.
At the end of Dunaway's career in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the company was sold to The Drackett
Company. Vanish was a higher volume brand with reasonably good margins, and became one of their major brands. With no real competitors, Delete had satisfactory margins, but minimal volume. They made no real effort to market it, but simply accepted orders to replenish merchants' inventories. When ceramic cooktops first became popular in the 1970s, it enjoyed a major boom in sales, but it was still a product to be manufactured only one day a year. As manufacturers of the leading Drano
brand, Drackett saw Elf as a brand they wanted to kill. Expello was a liability bomb waiting to go off, and since Drackett already had the Renuzit
brand, Expello found itself in the hands of Willert Home Products.
from Mary Dearborn. His daughter Helen is remembered in Dover for her large hair bows.
Personally, or through his foundation, he funded squash courts at Colby College
in Waterville, Maine
, the Judson Dunaway Library and Media Center at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, New Hampshire
, a wing at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, a community center in Ogunquit, Maine
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, and to the community of Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
, a philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
.
Family
Judson's family appears to be from VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
: He wrote a chapter on the Dunaway coat of arms in the book "The Dunaways of Virginia", by Anna Elizabeth Clendening.
Household products
Dunaway manufactured a number of householdHousehold
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
specialty chemicals, including Delete rust
Rust
Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides. In colloquial usage, the term is applied to red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture...
and stain remover, Vanish
Vanish
Vanish may refer to:*Vanish , a toilet bowl cleaner by S.C. Johnson or a cloth stain remover by Reckitt Benckiser*"Vanish" an episode of the TV series Criss Angel Mindfreak*Vanishing, a type of magical effect...
toilet bowl cleaner, Elf drain cleaner, Expello moth crystals
1,4-Dichlorobenzene
1,4-Dichlorobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H4Cl2. This colorless solid has a strong odor. It consists of two chlorine atoms substituted at opposing sites on a benzene ring. p-DCB is used a pesticide and a deodorant, most familiarly in mothballs in which it is a replacement for...
and insecticide
Insecticide
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
, and Bug-a-Boo moth crystals and aerosol
Aerosol
Technically, an aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas. Examples are clouds, and air pollution such as smog and smoke. In general conversation, aerosol usually refers to an aerosol spray can or the output of such a can...
.
Moth crystals
Expello was the leading brand in moth crystals. However, because the market is much bigger for toilet bowl cleaners, Vanish was his greatest success. His skills as an inventor were much less important than his skills as a marketer. The world of household cleansers is rife with me-too products.Moth crystals aren't a complicated product, either; they're just paradichlorobenzene
1,4-Dichlorobenzene
1,4-Dichlorobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H4Cl2. This colorless solid has a strong odor. It consists of two chlorine atoms substituted at opposing sites on a benzene ring. p-DCB is used a pesticide and a deodorant, most familiarly in mothballs in which it is a replacement for...
, possibly with perfume added. Moth crystals have largely been displaced by moth balls, which are made of naphthalene
Naphthalene
Naphthalene is an organic compound with formula . It is a white crystalline solid with a characteristic odor that is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 ppm by mass. As an aromatic hydrocarbon, naphthalene's structure consists of a fused pair of benzene rings...
, for liability reasons: while naphthalene is highly toxic, paradiclorobenzene is more toxic still. Furthermore, the entire moth preventative product category has declined with the adoption of synthetic fiber
Synthetic fiber
Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...
s, which moths do not eat, and the adoption of air conditioning
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
, which makes it harder for moths to reproduce.
Drain cleaner
Elf, a me-too drain cleanser, consisted of lye crystals. This was a less effective agent than crystal DranoDrano
Drano is a drain cleaner product manufactured by S. C. Johnson & Son.- Crystal Drano :According to the National Institutes of Health's Household Products Database, the crystal form is composed of sodium hydroxide , sodium nitrate, sodium chloride , and aluminum.The power crystals are simply colored...
, which added aluminum shards to generate heat and provide a sharp edge to cut through hair, but it was equally good as any of Drano's other me-too competitors. Delete rust and stain remover consisted of oxalic acid
Oxalic acid
Oxalic acid is an organic compound with the formula H2C2O4. This colourless solid is a dicarboxylic acid. In terms of acid strength, it is about 3,000 times stronger than acetic acid. Oxalic acid is a reducing agent and its conjugate base, known as oxalate , is a chelating agent for metal cations...
(an anti-rust agent), citric acid
Citric acid
Citric acid is a weak organic acid. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks...
(a chelating
Chelation
Chelation is the formation or presence of two or more separate coordinate bonds between apolydentate ligand and a single central atom....
agent) and microcrystalline cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
, a very soft abrasive
Abrasive
An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away...
. It was a good product, but not an inspired one, and it addressed a very small niche in the marketplace.
Toilet bowl cleaner
Toilet bowl cleaners aren't complicated. They are mostly sodium hydrogen sulfateSodium bisulfate
Sodium bisulfate, also known as sodium hydrogen sulfate , is an acid salt. It is a dry granular product that can be safely shipped and stored. The anhydrous form is hygroscopic. Solutions of sodium bisulfate are acidic, with a 1M solution having a pH of Sodium bisulfate, also known as sodium...
and surfactant
Surfactant
Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid...
s. Most household cleansers are alkaline (basic) in nature, but toilet bowl cleansers are acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
ic.
Dunaway is credited with inventing Vanish - except that he didn't invent it so much as wait for the patents for Sani-Flush to expire in 1932, and then introduced Vanish in 1937. His marketing was good enough to distress Hygienic Products, who had been making Sani-Flush since 1911, and they sued him for trademark infringement in 1945. When the case was resolved in Dunaway's favor, it was a landmark ruling; the case is still commonly cited in infringement lawsuits.
FTC actions
In 1957, the Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
also took note of Judson Dunaway's marketing skills, although they weren't admiring them. The Judson Dunaway Corporation, General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
, and Swanee Paper
Swanee Paper
Swanee Paper Corporation manufactured paper in Ransom, Pennsylvania, United States. The paper mill still exists, although the company does not. In 1998, Pope & Talbot sold the 55,000 tons-per-year paper mill to Plainwell, Inc...
Corporation were charged with violating the Clayton Act in dealing with Grand Union
Grand Union
- Transport :* Grand union, a four-way, double track rail junction often found on tram systems* Grand Union Canal, a waterway running from London to Birmingham in the United Kingdom...
Co., a large eastern supermarket chain. Grand Union agreed not to carry similar products to those of Dunaway and General Mills, and Grand Union received promotional allowances not available to Grand Union's competitors. All four companies signed consent decree
Consent decree
A consent decree is a final, binding judicial decree or judgment memorializing a voluntary agreement between parties to a suit in return for withdrawal of a criminal charge or an end to a civil litigation...
s, a legal document in which one does not admit to doing anything wrong, but agrees to stop doing it.
Company history
Originally, Dunaway did business as Expello Corporation. Eventually, he did business as the Judson Dunaway Corporation. The New Hampshire Secretary of State's office online search does not show any corporation ever existing under either name.At the end of Dunaway's career in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the company was sold to The Drackett
Drackett
The Drackett Company was a leading company in the specialty chemicals business during the 20th century, responsible for such products as Windex glass cleaner, Vanish toilet bowl cleaner, Drāno drain opener, Behold furniture polish, Endust dusting aid, Renuzit air freshener, Mr. Muscle oven...
Company. Vanish was a higher volume brand with reasonably good margins, and became one of their major brands. With no real competitors, Delete had satisfactory margins, but minimal volume. They made no real effort to market it, but simply accepted orders to replenish merchants' inventories. When ceramic cooktops first became popular in the 1970s, it enjoyed a major boom in sales, but it was still a product to be manufactured only one day a year. As manufacturers of the leading Drano
Drano
Drano is a drain cleaner product manufactured by S. C. Johnson & Son.- Crystal Drano :According to the National Institutes of Health's Household Products Database, the crystal form is composed of sodium hydroxide , sodium nitrate, sodium chloride , and aluminum.The power crystals are simply colored...
brand, Drackett saw Elf as a brand they wanted to kill. Expello was a liability bomb waiting to go off, and since Drackett already had the Renuzit
Renuzit
Renuzit is a brand of air fresheners produced by the Dial Corporation. The Renuzit brand once included a solvent-based spot remover and cleaner as well.-How air fresheners work:Air fresheners are basically perfume dispensers...
brand, Expello found itself in the hands of Willert Home Products.
Personal life
Dunaway and his wife, Anna E., lived on Belknap street in Dover during his early career as a manufacturer. In 1946, he purchased the house at 120 Silver Street, Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
from Mary Dearborn. His daughter Helen is remembered in Dover for her large hair bows.
Personally, or through his foundation, he funded squash courts at Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
in Waterville, Maine
Waterville, Maine
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, Waterville is the regional commercial, medical and cultural center....
, the Judson Dunaway Library and Media Center at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
, a wing at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, a community center in Ogunquit, Maine
Ogunquit, Maine
Ogunquit is a town in York County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census its population was 1,226. The popularity of the town as a summer resort is epitomized by its motto, "Beautiful Place by the Sea."...