Pond's print advertisement for vanishing cream, 1910

Pond's Cream is a brand of beauty and health care products that is produced by the Ponds Institute which is owned by the multinational company Unilever.

History[link]

Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a medicine by scientist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) in 1846. Mr. Pond extracted a healing tea from witch hazel, with which he discovered he could heal small cuts and other ailments. The product was named "Golden Treasure", after Theron died, it would be known as "Pond's Extract". ^[1][2]

In 1846, the "T.T. Pond Company" was formed, with Pond and other business people as investors. Theron Pond's health was failing, however, so he sold his portion of the company soon after, and he died in 1852.

The company then moved to Connecticut and later to New York City.

In 1886, Pond's began to advertise nationally. They would, however, advertise under the name of Pond's Healing until 1910.

By the twentieth century, the company's main strategy was geared towards selling cosmetics products, and so the "Pond's Vanishing Cream" and the "Pond's Cold Cream" were created, marking the entrance of Pond's products into the facial care industry. Today Ponds is sold around the world. Its strengths are in Spain, India, Japan and Thailand.

The 1910s[link]

By 1910, Pond's was a well established brand among Americans. Concentrating mostly on their vanishing cream, the Pond's company began an ad campaign that would become notorious because of the celebrities involved in it. "Pond's Healing" took a back seat to "Pond's Vanishing Cream", as "Pond's Healing" and "Pond's Cold Cream" would be announced in small print under the "Pond's Vanishing Cream" advertisements.^[2]

By 1914, mentions of "Pond's Healing" were taken off the ads, and the Pond's company began to advertise "Pond's Vanishing Cream" and "Pond's Cold Cream" together, making sure to explain each cream's different purposes on the new ads. One particular ad line read "Every normal skin needs these two creams".

As a result of the new campaign, "Pond's Vanishing Cream" had a 60% increase in sales during 1915, and "Pond's Cold Cream" had a 27% increase.^{[citation needed]}

The 1920s[link]

The face of Marie of Romania became famous in ads for Pond's Hand Creams in the late 1920s

By 1922, sales of the products had gone down, as many believed that such an easily available product could not perform as well as other, "designer" products. Because of this, the Pond's Company then targeted Royalty, politicians and people of high class stature to become advertisers for the company. In addition, these ads were printed in magazines such as Vogue and others, to give customers a feeling that they really were getting a quality product for a fair price.

In 1923, Queen Marie of Romania visited the United States, and she enjoyed the product so much that in 1925 she wrote to the Pond's Company requesting more supplies. Her letter was, in turn, used for advertisement, and Her Majesty joined the list of celebrities who had previously sponsored the products.

Around the time of Queen Marie's visit to the United States, the Pond's Company began to place samples of their products at their magazine ads, and the characters of "Peter" and "Polly Ponds" were created, as part of their campaign to entice normal people into buying their cream again. The marketing strategies proved successful, as sales of the Pond's facial creams went up again.

"Peter" and "Polly Ponds" disappeared from the company's ad campaigns after 1925.

The 1930s[link]

During the Depression Era of the 1930s, the company's business slowed down somewhat. However, the Pond's company expanded slowly, adding Face Powder and Angel Face products.

First merger[link]

Pond's Company was merged in 1955 with the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company, which had a good percentage of brands in the facial care field. With this merger, "Pond's Creams" would become sisters with the Cutex nail polish brand and the Matchabelli perfumes.^[1][2]

With the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company in command, "Pond's Creams" became available at many supermarkets across the United States. The creams' bottles consisted of small, glass bottles with a round cap.^[2] The bottles could be recognized by their distinctive colors, usually in green, blue or white. That bottle design is still in use by the Pond's brand.

Second merger[link]

In 1987, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company by most known as "Chesebrough-Ponds", was acquired by Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, giving "Pond's Creams" a more international reach.^[1] Then 14% of the company was subsequently traded privately to Bhosle Group of Industries for an undisclosed amount of money.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pond's Official website
• Pond's in the UK
• Social satire video that involves the "Pond's Institute"