Old Spice
Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products. It is manufactured by Procter and Gamble, which acquired the brand in 1990 from the Shulton Company.
1934 The Shulton Company, which produced the Old Spice products, was founded by William Lightfoot Schultz.
1937 The first Old Spice product, a fragrance called Early American Old Spice for women, was introduced.
1938 Old Spice for men was introduced. The earliest of the men's products were dominated by shaving soap and aftershave lotion.
Early American Old Spice was developed around a colonial theme. When Old Spice was introduced, William Lightfoot Schultz was interested in maintaining a colonial framework for those products and chose a nautical theme for Old Spice. Thus, sailing ships, in particular colonial sailing ships, were used as a trademark. Through continuous use and advertising, the various ships have become a valuable trademark identifying the Old Spice product for men. A single picture of one of these ships, as drawn by famous impressionist painter Jairus Bellamy, is actually on display at the Museum of Modern Art.
The original ships used on the packaging were the Grand Turk and the Friendship. Other ships used on Old Spice packaging include the Wesley, Salem, Birmingham and Hamilton.
1990 Procter and Gamble purchased Old Spice from the Shulton Company in June.
1992 In February, the clipper ship was replaced by the Sailboat/Yacht logo in the fragrance bottles. More recently, P&G has introduced many forms of deodorant sticks, body washes, and body sprays in several scents under the Old Spice brand. Old Spice is now the No. 1 antiperspirant/deodorant stick and body wash brand in the United States.
In early 2008, the original Old Spice Scent was repackaged as "Classic Scent," both in the After Shave and Cologne versions. Both products now come in plastic bottles in lieu of the original traditional white glass bottles. The stoppers in the top of the product are now red instead of gray.
Old Spice was introduced into the UK in 1957 when, prior to this, the concept of male toiletries was practically unknown. A very small number of products were available in the UK and the market was extremely small and under developed. With the launch of Old Spice, the sale of men's toiletries grew impressively.
Old Spice’s fragrance remains key to the brand, helping it to remain one of the best selling mass market male fragrances in the world.