(from American Cyanamid publication, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1984)

George Schultz was only 19 on a blistering hot July 6, 1936; it was his first day on the job in his father’s new company. He wore a suit and tie and a hat, standard issue for salesmen in those days, picked up a 30-pound sample case and headed for his territory - the Bronx, New York. This was only one of several jobs he would have as he worked his way through Princeton.

George Schultz got in on the ground floor of what he and his father were to make into a $130 million company, but back then his father had no capital and could only afford to pay him a commission on any sale he made. What William Lightfoot Schultz did have, though, was imagination, experience in the soap business, and a reputation as a quality manufacturer.

William’s first enterprise, the Lightfoot Schultz Company, was formed in the 1920s. It was here that he developed his reputation and contacts with the prestige department stores selling soap and fine toiletries under his name and private label. He later was forced to sell to the American Safety Razor Company and temporarily stayed on as president until 1933 when he ventured out on his own again to start a new company.

Shulton was formed in 1934 at the height of the Depression. William Schultz convinced the management at the Bowery Savings Bank in New York City that they had everything to gain by letting him use an office in their nearly vacant building, and he would pay them rent if he succeeded in his new business.

With no customers and no product, he started from scratch again selling private label soap. His first sale was to Wanamakers for $216 for five gross of Three Little Pigs.

Schultz realized that he was never going to get rich selling a private label product and began looking for a product that he could trademark that would capture the public's attention. He was influenced by the Depression and the growing interest in things early American. He and an artist, Enid Edson, researched books on early American lore and visited museums to look for designs. With sketches in hand, Schultz visited his retailing friends and showed them his ideas for packaging toiletries in functional containers that had simple designs. The product packages he sketched had an early American motif but no commercial advertising on them. When the soap or dusting powder was used up, the attractive box could be used to store jewelry, hair combs, and stockings, etc.

The buyers were enthusiastic about Schultz's ideas, and he came back with orders for products that didn't yet exist. He developed a fragrance from a memory of a rose jar his mother kept in the house, a combination of roses, cloves, herbs and other spices, and called his new line of toiletries Early American Old Spice® for women.

He convinced his suppliers of soap, toiletries, boxes and perfume oils to extend credit until the products were made, shipped and his customers paid for them. Early American Old Spice toiletries were an immediate success. In fact, sales at the end of 1938 were $982,000. Shulton introduced a few items of Old Spice® for men in time for Christmas that year, and by the end of the following year, sales were $3 million.

Meanwhile, George had developed his sales territory during his first three years at college so that with his commissions and earnings from other campus ventures he could pay his tuition and expenses and afford to hire a salesman to work for him. When George graduated in 1940 with a degree in chemical engineering, he went to work at Shulton's plant in Hoboken. Within a year he became plant manager and developed and implemented modern production methods.

The war years hampered expansion of the business as Shulton began manufacturing ordnance materials such as bullet dies and precision parts for aircraft, but when it was over, George located and built a new manufacturing facility, and Shulton moved to its present site in Clifton in 1946.  (Note: Shulton has not been located in Clifton since the early 1990s, shortly after its purchase by Procter and Gamble.  The Clifton facilities have since been torn down.)

When his father began suffering health problems, George took on the additional responsibilities of sales and marketing. William Lightfoot Schultz passed away in 1950, the same year the company's sales first reached $10 million. George was elected president and continued to build the company on the standards and values set down by his father -- offer consumers a quality product at a fair price.

The company already had grown to include the Desert Flower® and Friendship Garden® fragrance products, and during the next 20 years, George expanded Shulton internationally to include sales in 75-80 countries, some of which operated as full-fledged subsidiaries. He also expanded the men's line, introduced Old Spice stick deodorant, developed the line of products of Pierre Cardin, acquired the Jacqueline Cochran product line, the distribution rights to Nina Ricci products and prepared the international product launch for Blue Stratos® toiletries.

When he made the decision in 1970 to sell to American Cyanamid, Shulton’s sales were $130 million. The industry had grown so much that to stay in the forefront, new products had to be developed and launched on a much larger scale, and that required substantial financial resources. The risks were more easily managed and absorbed in a large company.

Schultz selected American Cyanamid because he always believed the ideal company would be a combination of chemicals/pharmaceuticals and consumer products. In 1990, Shulton was sold to Procter & Gamble.

On Thursday April 12, 2001, Procter and Gamble issued the following press release regarding the licensing of Old Spice shaving products.

Old Spice, Noxema Licensed

CINCINNATI (AP) -- The Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday it has licensed its Old Spice and Noxema shaving products to Universal Razor Industries of Los Angeles, Calif.

URI will assume responsibility for development and production of those lines in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. P&G will retain rights to the trademarks and will continue to operate and manage the Old Spice
antiperspirant and fragrance products and Noxema's skin cleansing line.

``Our consumers expect high quality products from Old Spice and Noxema and we are confident this agreement will result in further development of our shaving lines,'' said Susan Arnold, president of P&G's global personal
beauty care business.