There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
                                                                                   -Spiritual

The founder of Mentholatum, Albert Alexander Hyde, was born in Lee, Massachushetts, in 1848. In 1865 he moved to Kansas and lived out his life in Wichita, a raw frontier town. After he lost the fortune he had accumulated in banking and real estate, he entered into a modest partnership with two other men to form the Yucca Company which began selling a fine soap based on the oil of the yucca plant. Soon other products followed, including fly paper, cough syrup and silver polish. The company was guided by Hyde who had experience in financial matters; the others developed and sold products. In 1890, Hyde bought out his partners as the company could not support three families, Mr. Hyde’s numbering eleven children by 1899!

Between 1890-1894, Mr. Hyde developed the most well-known and successful of all the Yucca Company products, Mentholatum Ointment.

Hyde had become intrigued by the properties of menthol, long extolled by the Japanese as a remedy for many ailments. He studied its healing effects and spent four years working with doctors, chemists and druggists to develop the remedial emollient he had originally envisioned. He named it “ Mentholatum.”

The name proved effective. It was pleasant to the ear, easily remembered, and noted the two main ingredients: menthol and petrolatum. The distinctive name also set it apart from other home remedies of the time which were usually linked to someone’s name and touted as “a secret.” Before long Mentholatum was singled out for particular mention among the many products of the company and it was often used in print as a generic rather than a trade name.
 

1. The Mentholatum management team: Rick Gazzola, Sales & Marketing Manager, Greg McCaughey, Field Sales Manager, Len Dowsett, President, Judy Salomons, Controller. 2. A.A. Hyde, known for his strong convictions, made it his life's work to distribute the wealth he had accumulated.

Hyde sold the product door to door and sought personal endorsements of his product’s effectiveness. Testimonials poured in, many ailments were listed for treatment in the sales literature — one of the greater claims being for relief of piles, a common complaint.

The company was one of the first in North America to employ travelling salespersons and two were women, one an osteopath, Doctor Ella Veazie.

By 1906, the years of struggle were over and the Yucca Company had grown from a small regional purveyor of soaps and toiletries to become the manufacturer of a patent remedy with nationwide sales. A factory was opened in Buffalo, New York. It became The Mentholatum Company.

Charlie Hyde, son of “A.A.” Hyde, opened, in 1906, a Canadian subsidiary known as “Mentholatum Inter-American Inc.” and constructed a 10,000 square-foot, two-story building on the present site in Fort Erie, Ontario.

With his sons managing the businesses, Hyde devoted more and more time to his life-long interest in philanthropic pursuits, supporting any organizations that he believed contributed to the growth of the Kingdom of God on earth. The Boys Club of America, the Y.M.C.A. or any missionary requesting help would receive money and Mentholatum. Because of this product donation to missionaries in Africa and the Far East, Mentholatum ointment became the product of choice for anyone suffering from a cold or skin irritation and became known worldwide as “the Medicine Chest in a Jar.” In Africa there is no word for ointment; “true Mentholatum,” is the brand product and “Mentholatum” is generic for other companies’ products.

Today Mentholatum products are sold in over 150 countries. In Canada, the company continued to grow under the leadership of C.H. Hyde until 1933 when he was succeeded by General Manager Mr. G.H. Stratton Sr. followed by his son, G.H. Stratton, Jr.
 

1. Deep Cold Therapy used for relief of arthritis and muscle aches is the only analgesic ever endorsed by the Canadian Chiropractic Association. 2. Soft Lips, another adaptation of a remedial Japanese product, is the newest addition to the soothing, healing line-up.

By 1974 Mentholatum Inter-American had become The Mentholatum Company of Canada, Limited as a stand-alone subsidiary. In 1983, Mr. L.G. Dowsett became President and General Manager.

Under Mr. Dowsett’s leadership, many new products have been acquired, the most notable being “Deep Cold Therapy” which is used in relief of arthritis and muscle aches. It is the only analgesic ever endorsed by the Canadian Chiropractic Association; it has become the mainstay product leading to record high sales and profits. The Canadian operation is also being advanced with creative product packaging, including a jar sized for professional use, a pump action dispenser and a new aerosol — for action in the action sports. A Canadian adaption of another Japanese product “Softlips” promises also to be a success story.

“Len” Dowsett’s leadership has been recognized beyond the company as well. He recently served as president of the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association of Canada, and continues to actively participate in its annual Golf Tournament.

In 1988, Rohto Pharmeceuticals Co. Ltd. of Japan, which had a trademark licensing agreement with Mentholatum since 1975, acquired the company and all its subsidiaries. Yasuhiro Yamada, as CEO, leads the present campaign with “Quality Health Care Worldwide” as its logo.

A.A. Hyde would have been proud of the growth and prosperity of his “brainchild” whose products include Deep Heating Rub and Lotion, Mecca Ointment, Fletcher’s Castoria, and Smug Denture Cushions, among others. He died in 1935 at the age of 87, having no accumulated wealth and true to his philosophy “we are not here to lay up worldly treasures but to be of service.”