Charles Edward Frosst, born in 1867 in Richmond, Virginia, came to Canada as a salesman for Henry Wampole & Company at the age of 25. Seven years later, he established his own company that became the widely known and highly respected Charles E. Frosst & Co., developer of such painkillers as 217^®s and 222^®s and the first Canadian company to be licensed to produce Vitamin B₂.

The Wampole Company sent Frosst all over Canada to sell and in the seven years he spent with them, he proved an accomplished and knowledgeable salesman of pharmaceuticals and he befriended a network of people in the medical establishment. By 1899, he was encouraged to strike out on his own and elected to do so in Montreal because he had an excellent relationship with McGill University’s Department of Medicine and because Montreal was then the business centre of Canada.

His first laboratory was a modest one, a 2,000 square foot space on Dufferin Square where he researched and developed his own formulas. On occasion he also built his own machinery to manufacture his carefully tested products and initially he was also his own salesman. Frosst made a point of selling to licensed druggists only, avoiding those who continued to rely on old-time remedies and hypnotic compounds. This policy encouraged hospitals to deal directly with his company and they soon became his biggest customers.
 

With stirred imaginations, thousands and thousands of children thrillingly anticipated "Dingbat" calendars, those annual cartoons hanging for nearly half a century in the waiting rooms of just about every doctor and dental office across Canada. This one, published in 1957, was rendered by L.R. Bathchelor.   [Photo, courtesy Charles E. Frosst Jr.]

By the beginning of World War I, Frosst had developed and manufactured two famous painkillers that are still available. They were labelled Frosst 217®s and 222®s: a common way of identifying product lines at the time. After the war, his oldest son Eliot, who had served in the military overseas, joined the firm that grew rapidly in the postwar years. By 1927, the Frosst business establishment was listed in the Canadian Medical Directory as a “chemist and chemical company in Canada and Newfoundland” dealing in wholesale drugs as well as supplies to hospitals, physicians, and surgeons. The original “lab” had long since moved to a 50,000 square foot building on St. Antoine Street.

By then, two sons, John and Charles Jr., had also joined the firm and, with its expanded research, the company had successfully developed drugs to fight bacterial infections. In the early 1940s, it obtained a licence to produce Vitamin B₂ and branched out to develop a line of veterinary drugs for the treatment of small animals.

The senior Frosst had a management style that is today described as “management by walking around.” Although he presented a stern image, he made a point of knowing what the names were of all employees, how many children they had, and what their interests were. Employees were encouraged to take pride in their work and learned that they could always approach him if they had a problem. He was also known for his sense of humour as evidenced by his annual sponsorship of the “dingbat” calendars, waggish cartoons facetiously caricaturing the medical and pharmaceutical professions.

His major managerial commitment, however, was insistence on thorough research and extensive testing before any product was put on the market: in fact the Frosst Company was known for setting a North American industry standard in the percentage of research to sales. He was also a major supporter of hospital research and provided numerous scholarships to medical and health care students.
 

1. Born in Virginia, Charles E. Frosst spent his adult life in Canada. The axiom that says "all sucessful businesses start with personality" certainly held true for mr. Frosst whose soft, souterns accent and straight thinking as a salesman wowed potential clients and engenered close friendships. Today the Montreal-based company he founded in 1899 is an integral part of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. [Photo, courtesy Merck Frosst Canada Inc.] 2. The 222, 217, and 282 pain killer tablets known and sold worldwide since World War I made the Charles E. Frosst & Co. a household name marketing products, all relieving hurt and ache for millions of surfferers. [Photo, courtesy Charles E. Frosst Jr.]

In 1943, Charles, then 76, stepped down from the day-to-day running of the still family-owned company, leaving his three sons in charge. He retained, however, the role of chairman and, from time to time until his death in 1948, made a visit from his home in Westmount or his country home at Ste. Agathe, Quebec (easily identified because of the large Union Jack that flew from it), to the St. Antoine Street headquarters.

In 1959 the company went public and in 1965 was acquired by Merck & Co. Inc. to become Merck Frosst Canada Inc.

Mel James