Having a curious eye for detail, he unleashed a worldwide frenzy for a simple skin balm that skyrocketed to a mind-blowing $2.9 billion industry
And it all started 166 years ago in a little town in Pennsylvania that just happened to be the epicenter of the U.S. oil industry's big boom
Marine scientists call then Physeter macrocephalus. We know them as sperm whales. And they are one of the largest animals on the plant. For example males can reach 49 to 59 feet in length and weigh as much as 45 tons.
Females are 33 to 44 feet long and weigh about 15 tons.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates there are roughly 200,000 up to 1,500,000 sperm whales swimming the oceans. But an earlier 2022 study published in Scientific Reports estimates the global sperm whale population at approximately 844,671 individuals.
And while there might be a bit of debate on just how many sperm whales are alive today, what we do know is they were once one of the most hunted sea creatures on the planet.
You see way before kerosene or petroleum were discovered, sperm whales were hunted for their blubber. And it was big business too.
In fact from the early 1800s to the mid-1900s, the whaling industry was dominated by fleets from nations like the United States, Britain, Norway, and Japan. In the U.S. alone, places like Nantucket and New Bedford were major hubs for whaling enterprises.
By the 1830s, the U.S. had over 700 whaling ships, many operated by distinct companies or partnerships.
Historical log books and records suggest there were dozens of firms in New Bedford and Nantucket alone, with names such as Rotch, Howland, and Starbuck that had ties to multiple whaling ships. It was not uncommon for a single firm to own several vessels, each hunting sperm whales for their blubber and spermaceti.
By the way spermaceti is a waxy, semi-liquid substance located primarily in the head of the sperm whale, stored in a large, barrel-shaped organ called the spermaceti organ or "case." This organ can take up about a quarter to a third of the whale’s body length and hold up to 1,900 liters (500 gallons) or more in large males, weighing several tons.
After being caught whale spermaceti and blubber were then harvested from the animal and used to heat homes, light up lamp posts, put in candles and soaps, and as a lubricant for machinery.
I don’t want to get into too many graphic details but the process begins with cutting the fat from the whale’s blubber and extracting spermaceti from the head cavity of sperm whales. The blubber is boiled in large vats (a process called "trying out") to separate the oil, yielding a liquid fat.
This practice of hunting sperm whales continued until the discovery of kerosene, which happened in 1854. That’s when Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner began experimenting with coal, distilling a liquid he initially called "coal oil." By 1846, he refined this into a cleaner-burning fuel, demonstrating its use in lamps in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Gesner patented the process in 1854 in the U.S., naming the product "kerosene" (from the Greek keros, meaning wax, due to its paraffin-like properties). He began selling it across the country.
Because of Gesner’s discovery, the demand for sperm whale blubber and spermaceti dramatically declined. In fact the last major commercial hunts by industrialized nations like the United States and Britain wound down by the mid-20th century.
The Soviet Union and Japan continued longer, with the Soviets illegally whaling into the 1970s, even after joining the IWC.
However since the 1986 moratorium, commercial sperm whaling has been largely halted. And thank goodness!
That’s Some Slick Stuff You Got There
As the whaling industry unwound, whalers found themselves out of work. One of those people was Robert Augustus Chesebrough.
Although he was born in London, England on January 29, 1837 he lived most of his life in the U.S. His father, Henry Augustus Chesebrough, was 35 and his mother, Marion Maxwell Woodhull, was 25 when Robert was born.
Both Henry and Marion had lived in New York prior to moving to England. Though there is no clear record of Henry’s profession, the couple had enough money to travel to England, live there for a few years, and then head back to the U.S.
Robert grew up wanting to be a chemist and after receiving some technical training—likely in his late teens or early twenties, he found himself working in the whaling industry. He was one of the people involved in separating the oil from the fat of the boiled whale blubber.
At the time, this was considered a highly valued skilled trade. And the technical training he received helped him succeed at his job. Robert continued in this role until whale hunting was no longer needed. Not out work, at the age of 22 young Robert made his way to Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859.
Why go Titusville you ask? Well because that’s where oil was discovered for the first time by Edwin Drake. It was such a major discovery that people across the country were traveling to Titusville. It offered opportunity and jobs.
In fact the oil boom transformed Titusville and its surroundings almost overnight, drawing thousands of people—prospectors, workers, entrepreneurs, and speculators—hoping to cash in on America’s first petroleum rush.
Titusville was a small, sleepy lumber town with a population of about 250 people, surrounded by scattered farms and hamlets. But with the discovery of oil, its population had jumped to over 2,000, and by the mid-1860s, it peaked at around 8,000-10,000.
Robert watched first hand as “roughnecks” (the name given to those who handled the physically demanding and gritty tasks on the rig) operated the machinery, handling the large pipes, and of course keeping the equipment in working condition.
However something caught his eye … a slick, almost wax-like substance that stuck to the drilling equipment. When asked about it, workers told him it was known as rod wax. While the men complained that it was such a gooey residue to work with and that if often clogged up the pipes, they also told Robert they used the wax to soothe cuts and burns on their skin.
Take It Home and Make It Your Own
Completely fascinated with the wax, Chesebrough took samples back to his lab in Brooklyn, New York. And it’s here he experimented with different ways to refine the slick substance that was usually filled with impurities such as dirt and oil.
First he filtered it through bone char (charcoal made from animal bones) to remove impurities and darken compounds. He then used heat and vacuum distillation to separate out lighter oils, leaving a cleaner, waxy residue. And finally, Robert treated the residue with chemicals to whiten it, making it more visually appealing.
After about a decade of tinkering—some accounts suggest he finally perfected it by the late 1860s—Robert had a smooth, colorless, odorless product that wouldn’t spoil or become rancid.
Now the only thing left to do was put it to the test … to see how well his newly created substance worked. Robert willingly repeatedly cut or burned himself just so he could apply it onto his wounds. He found that it aided in healing the cuts and soothing the burns just as workers in Titusville had informed him.
He was ready to market his new substance to the public. Since he had derived it from petroleum, Robert initially called his new product Petroleum Jelly. But after going around town, showing his petroleum jelly to potential customers, they weren’t thrilled with the name.
And who would want to cover themselves in petroleum anyway? So Robert changed the name and did so by combing the German word "Wasser" (water) and the Greek word "elaion" (olive oil), with a nod to the vases he used in his lab.
In 1870, he patented the process (U.S. Patent No. 127,568, granted in 1872), renamed his product Vaseline and began selling it as a medicinal salve.
If Doctor Recommended, You Win
Robert traveled across New York in a horse-drawn cart, handing out free samples and showing off his healed scars. He even claimed to have eaten a spoonful daily to prove its safety (though that’s not recommended).
Yet sales were slow because the public was still skeptical of using a product that came from petroleum.
Well just like the lines in William Hickson’s poem "Try Again” - if at first you don’t succeed, try again … and that’s what Robert did.
He knew the public was skeptical but would doctors have the same reaction, especially if they saw how it helped healed his scars?
So he took his new skin salve, which he put inside tin cans and shared it with family doctors. Well the doctors were impressed and started using it to dress their patient’s wounds. Turns out if it’s good enough for doctors, then it’s good enough for regular folk too.
Soon families starting us it for chapped skin, burns, and other non-life threatening scrapes and injuries. By the early 1870’s, Vaseline was a hit, sold throughout the U.S. and Europe. In fact it was so popular that Vaseline was sold in the U.S. at a rate of one tin per minute, translating to over 1,400 units a day.
By the 1900’s, Vaseline became a go-to skincare product, bought by new mothers who used it on their babies for diaper rash, while workers from a variety of industries exposed to extreme weather used it to relieve their dry, chapped skin.
Heck it even became a stable for soldiers fighting in Europe to help heal their chapped sore feet.
In 1950, Reader’s Digest called it the “wonder jelly.” It’s growth was mind-blowing and explosive.
Today, Vaseline is now a household stable. In fact in 2023, here in the U.S. 44 million units were sold. Right now Vaseline is valued at $2.3 billion but is expected to reach $4.9 billion by 2031.
There probably isn’t a person alive today that hasn’t used vaseline at least once whether to help with diaper rash, chapped lips, hands and elbows, or as a make-up remover. We wouldn’t know the benefits of vaseline, if weren’t for Mr. Chesebrough’s attentive eye watching men work the oil rigs and noticing a weird wax-like substance on the end of the pipes.
Amazing Quotes by Amazing People
“Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.” - Howard Rheingold