Vaseline

For other uses, see Vaseline (disambiguation).
Vaseline
Product type Petroleum jelly body lotion
Owner Unilever
Country United States
Introduced 1872
Markets Worldwide
Tagline The Healing Power of Vaseline
Website http://www.vaseline.us/

Vaseline /ˈvæsəˌliːn/[1][2][note 1] is a brand of petroleum jelly based products owned by Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers and deodorants.

In many languages the word "Vaseline" is used as generic for petroleum jelly; in Portuguese and some Spanish speaking countries the Unilever products are called Vasenol.

History

An image from Vaseline company archives.

The first known reference to the name Vaseline was by the inventor of petroleum jelly, Robert Chesebrough in his U.S. patent for the process of making petroleum jelly (U.S. Patent 127,568) in 1872. "I, Robert Chesebrough, have invented a new and useful product from petroleum which I have named Vaseline..."

The name "vaseline" is said by the manufacturer to be derived from German Wasser "water" + Greek έλαιον (elaion) "olive oil".[3]

In 1859, Chesebrough went to the oil fields in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and learned of a residue called "rod wax" that had to be periodically removed from oil rig pumps. The oil workers had been using the substance to heal cuts and burns. Chesebrough took samples of the rod wax back to Brooklyn, extracted the usable petroleum jelly, and began manufacturing the medicinal product he called Vaseline.[4]

Vaseline was made by the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company until the company was purchased by Unilever in 1987.

Usage

Vaseline in its container
Further information: Uses of petroleum jelly

While Vaseline can be used as a lubricant, it can also be used as a moisture insulator for local skin conditions characterized by tissue dehydration. Vaseline can help protect minor cuts and burns.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable /ˌvæsəˈliːn/.

Citations

  1. ↑ "Definition of Vaseline". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Define Vaseline". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  3. ↑ Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
  4. ↑ The History of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly began in the Pennsylvania Oil Fields!, Drake Well Museum pamphlet, copyright 1996 by Holigan Group Ltd, Dallas, Texas
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