In 1886, Samuel Curtis (S.C.) Johnson buys a parquet flooring business. It
will soon take a backseat to a wax paste he cooks up in his bathtub. His son,
Herbert Fisk, and grandson, H.F., would expand that sideline into the
international firm, SC Johnson.
In 1954, H. F.’s son, Sam, joins the company, still largely a wood-care
business. Within two years, his department has invented four new products,
including Raid. His father skeptically asks, “Does it have any wax in it?”  |  | | SAMUEL CURTIS Johnson | HERBERT FISK Johnson |
By 1960, Raid, Off!, Pledge and Glade account for 35 percent of domestic
sales and spur the company’s diversification into many new products and new
businesses.
As a father of young children in the 1970s, Johnson starts two businesses
from scratch, in sporting goods and banking, which become Johnson Outdoors, the
family’s only publicly traded entity, and Johnson Financial.  |  | | H. F. JOHNSON Jr. | SAM JOHNSON |
In 2000, Johnson becomes chairman emeritus of SC Johnson. His children have
already begun assuming high-level management responsibilities for Johnson Family
Enterprises. Back to Main Article: A Waxing Empire
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