by Charles Alexander
Stick This
In Your
(
or not)!
EAR
Let’s be clear: Their
TV commercials tell you
NEVER to stick a Q-tip in
your ear, probably in order
to avoid litigation. Secretly,
in the privacy of one’s own
home, these instructions are
likely being ignored. The
editors of this magazine
will not condone, endorse,
or otherwise approve of
inserting any foreign object,
regardless of how soft and
fluffy it may be, into your ear
canal(s). Ignore this caveat at
your own peril.
This remarkably simple,
yet long-lived product is one
of the great success stories
in the history of American
entrepreneurship. It ranks
among those select few
products whose trade name
has become synonymous
with the product. Produce
any packet of cotton swabs,
and anyone asked to identify
them will simply say,
“
Q-tips.” The folks at Unilever, the
manufacturer of Q-tips, protest
that the correct term is “cotton
swab”. Hereafter, please be sure to
identify them as such, while you
are not inserting them into your
ears. Methinks they do protest too
much.
To be fair, only one company
makes “Q-tips”, and the rest are
imitators. The original cotton swab
was created by Leo Gerstenzang,
who keenly noticed that his wife
would apply cotton to toothpicks
for different uses, but mainly for
baby care. Noticing the trouble it
took to make them, and with an
understandable concern for the
baby’s safety, Gerstenzang, the
original founder of the Q-tips®
Company, decided it would be a
good idea to manufacture a ready-
to-use cotton swab.
Thus, the Gerstenzang Infant
Novelty Company was born.
The original product was dubbed
“
Baby Gays”, perhaps after the
Gerstenzang baby who inspired
its creation. He later added
“
Q-tips” in front of the name,
resulting in “Q-tips Baby Gays”.
The name was later shortened
to “Q-tips”. The “Q” stands for
“
quality”, and the tips part is
self-explanatory.
Over the years, the company
has merged and been purchased
a number of times, most recently
as a subsidiary of Chesebrough-
Ponds, which was acquired by
Unilever, which originated as
Lever Brothers. Through it all,
the “Q-tips” brand survives,
and in spite of the company’s
objections, remains a household
“
word.” Still a favorite with
mothers of infants, people keep
finding new uses for them.
They are great tools for
cleaning dirt out of crevices,
applying and removing makeup,
and treating wounds and skin
irritations. Q-tips are used by
technicians to clean mechanical
parts, and are also employed as
paint brushes for arts and crafts.
They come in very handy, because
they are inexpensive and disposable.
This is also true for other brands
of cotton swabs, but Unilever
cautions: Q-tips have the most soft
cotton at the tip (more than other
any swab). Not content to leave
well enough alone, the makers
of Q-tips continue to innovate:
the latest development is a new
“
Precision Tip,” specially designed
for makeup application & beauty.
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Discover Smith Mountain Lake | Winter 2012
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