Twenty-Mule-Team Borax

Twenty-mule-team Borax is a brand of cleaner manufactured by the U.S. soap firm Dial Corporation. [Hildebrand, GH. (1982) "Borax Pioneer: Francis Marion Smith." San Diego: Howell-North Books. (ISBN 0-8310-7148-6)]

History and Marketing

The product is named after the twenty mule teams that were used by William Tell Coleman's company to move borax out of Death Valley, California to the nearest rail spur between 1883 and 1889. Francis Marion Smith acquired Coleman's holdings in 1890 and consolidated them with his own to form the Pacific Coast Borax Company. After the mule teams had already been replaced by a new rail spur, the name "20 Mule Team Borax" was established and aggressively promoted by Pacific Coast Borax as a way to increase sales of its product. Stephen Mather, son of J.W. Mather, the administrator of the company's New York office, persuaded Smith to add the name "20 Mule Team Borax" to go with the famous sketch of the mule team already on the box. The twenty mule team symbol was first used in 1891 and registered in 1894. In 1988, just over 20 years after the acquisition of U.S. Borax by Rio Tinto Group, the Boraxo, Borateem, and 20-Mule Team product lines were sold to Dial Corporation by U.S. Borax. [ [http://www.borax.com/borax5.html Rio Tinto Borax : About Borax : History] ]

One of the final television roles for Ronald Reagan was as host of TV's western anthology series Death Valley Days, in 1964 and 1965. Reagan also acted in some episodes. The show was sponsored primarily by Pacific Coast Borax Company, which later became U.S. Borax. The previous host was the "Old Ranger" (Stanley Andrews), and, after Reagan's departure for politics, hosts included Robert Taylor and Dale Robertson.

Today, the product is endorsed by Linda Cobb, the "Queen of Clean."

External links

* [http://www.dialcorp.com/index.cfm?page_id=56 Dial's product information page]
* [http://www.desertusa.com/mag05/jul/borax.html 20-mule Team Borax History - DesertUSA]
*
* [http://www.deathvalleydays.com/ Death Valley Days Official Website]

References